Playground Kisses
by remuswolfylupin
Summary: Sam Welson is used to always saying yes, even if it doesn't make him, himself, happy. When he starts teaching at Dalton though and meets the charming English teacher, Blaine Anderson, Sam eventually is faced with a situation he just can not say yes to...
1. A borrowed shirt

_Hey all! So, for those of you who have been reading my 'Don't know where, don't know when' Klaine fic and are aware of the Bam (Sam/Blaine) relationship and love it as much as I do...well, this is for you! _

_Part of my inspiration for this fic was from my awesometastical friend, who goes by the name of NiryLae on this site (She's working on a Klaine fic herself, so once it's up you all should read it! :D). She mentioned a Bam fic idea involving a playground and Blaine just being...well, adorable Blaine. So I took that idea and then came up with a good storyline that would eventually include that scenario, and now we have this! So, please enjoy! I love the Bam relationship, and if Klaine wasn't endgame in 'Don't know where,don't know when' then I would totally have Sam and Blaine stay together, I swear._

_Note: this is not a part of the 'Don't know where, don't know when' universe. I just wanted a separate fic for Bam. But I do plan on maybe writing a couple of Bam one shots later that would be an actual part of the 'Don't know where, don't know when' universe! _

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><p>Sam Welson gave in to pretty much anything – all throughout his years at school, whenever his friends would want something or would beg him to do something for them, well, he would never say no. He could not. It was just how he was; always wanting to make everyone else happy, hardly ever worrying about whether things were making him, himself, happy. Things had changed since graduating college, having attended NYU to study for a career in music. He had grown up more, learned to stick up for his self and be more assertive, even if he still did give in to a lot of what his friends and family asked. All that was quite a few years ago. Now he was 28 and living in Westerville, Ohio, teaching music at the ever so impressive Dalton Academy. His friends had thought he was slightly crazy for leaving the dazzling city of New York to move to Ohio to teach, but Sam was not going to complain. Finding work as a music teacher in the city was not as easy as it sounded, so when his uncle – one of the only remaining relatives he had who was not currently still pretending he did not exist because he was gay – told him about the teaching job at Dalton, well, Sam was not going to pass the chance up.<p>

The apartment he found on the outskirts of Westerville was a lovely little place. It was more a two person apartment, but Sam figured the extra bedroom could be used as a guest room. Some of his friends back in New York had promised to visit at some point, so he would have somewhere for them to stay then when they did. There was a nice open kitchen with plenty of counter space, which was good since he loved to cook, a pretty decent sized bathroom, and a living room. All in all a very good sized apartment for him, and there was a lovely view of the fields in the back. There was a playground down the street where the neighborhood kids liked to play; sometimes in the afternoon Sam could hear faintly hear the kids yelling and screaming.

On the day of the interview, Sam dressed nicely, wearing his favorite purple dress shirt in hopes that it would bring him luck. He really needed the job, so he could use all the luck he could get. When he got to the school he was quite impressed. It was a gorgeous campus and the buildings themselves made him stand in awe for a moment. It was two weeks before the new school year started so there were not a lot of vehicles in the parking lot.

He entered the building, pausing to take in the lobby for a brief moment before realizing he had no idea where this office was that he was supposed to be going to for his interview. _Well...this should be interesting_. If he was lucky maybe he would run into someone who could help him out, otherwise he would just have to wander until he found the room number he was looking for. Luckily he had gotten there early so he had plenty of time to search. He headed up a slightly spiraled staircase and started walking down a carpeted hallway, taking in his surroundings as he went. Sam was starting to hope he got the job just so he could spend so much time in the school; it was beautiful. It was not until he reached the end of the hall and turned the corner that he found an even better reason for hoping he got the job.

Going around the corner of the hall he found himself colliding with another person. Instantly papers flew everywhere, and he heard someone exclaim in surprise before suddenly feeling extremely hot liquid splashing against his chest and hearing a cup clatter to the floor.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" A man's voice shouted in horror. "Are you alright?" Papers were still slightly fluttering to the floor all around them.

Sam swore in pain, looking down to see coffee dripping off of his favorite shirt. _At least it's good smelling coffee, _he thought to himself. "I'll be fine; I hope..." He laughed lightly, finding it very uncomfortable to have an extremely hot, soaked shirt clinging to his chest. He looked back up to see the man he had ran into and felt his heart practically stop for a moment.

The other man was an inch or so shorter than him, wearing a very interesting plaid shirt, sporting a bowtie, paired with dark skinny jeans. His dark hair was gelled down neatly as well. It was his eyes though that really caught Sam's attention. They were soft, hazel, and just bore a friendly look, continuously drawing Sam's gaze to them. When Sam realized he had been probably been staring a bit too long his face reddened and he looked back down, hoping he had not made the man uncomfortable. He had never seen someone so attractive though.

"I really am sorry about this." The man spoke again, still watching him with a concerned look. "That coffee had to be really hot; I just made it. And- oh shit, my papers!" He laughed, crouching down to start gathering all the papers up.

"Let me help you with those." Sam responded, crouching down as well to help. "And I can't let you take all the blame for this; I should have been watching where I was going too."

They both leaned over to reach for the same paper at the same time and accidentally bumped their heads together. The other man apologized loudly again as they both rubbed their foreheads. Then they looked up at one another and laughed.

"Sorry." Sam grinned, reaching over to get the last piece of paper and handing it to the man. His heart seemed to be racing in his chest over how close he was to the attractive fellow. "I'm Sam Welson."

"Blaine Anderson." The man responded, reaching out to shake Sam's hand. The contact sent a soft shiver down Sam's spine and he was rather disappointed when Blaine let go of his hand far too soon. "I've never seen you around here." Blaine commented as they both stood back up.

Blaine. Sam liked that name. He smiled at Blaine's comment. "Oh, well, I'm here for an interview. My uncle lives around here and knew I was looking for a music teaching position. They're surprisingly harder to come by in New York than I thought, so when he told me about the opening at Dalton I couldn't pass up the chance."

Hearing Sam mention New York seemed to change something in Blaine's expression. Sam could not tell, but it was almost as if Blaine went from looking surprised, to sad, then back to a faint smile. "You lived in New York?"

"Yeah." Sam replied; nodding as he bent down to pick up the coffee mug they had both forgotten about. "After high school I...left Alabama and attended New York University to study music, because I've always wanted to teach and I love music. Figured it'd be a good combination. Did you used to live there?"

"Ah, I did, actually. I went to school there as well, though I graduated from high school here in Ohio." Blaine replied. "You don't have much of a southern accent, for someone from Alabama."

Sam laughed, shrugging. "My family originally used to live here actually. Which is why my uncle still lives in Ohio, but my parents moved to Alabama before I was born. I sort of grew up with a slight accent, but it wasn't very strong. Plus then I was away in New York since leaving high school and I haven't been back there so I must have grown out of it or something? I don't know. Er, I should probably get going to my interview..."

"You're not going in that shirt." Blaine told him, indicating to the rather big coffee stain. Sam bit his lip, knowing Blaine was right. He did not have time to go home and change his shirt though. "Here, I keep a spare shirt in my office, just in case. Follow me." Blaine turned and headed back the way he was coming from before Sam ran into him. Sam followed along down the hallway until they reached a door on the left. Unlocking the door, Blaine opened it and stepped to the side so Sam could go in first. Once Blaine was in the room he set all his papers and his coffee mug down on his desk and went over to a cupboard. "Here we go...it should fit, and I think you'll look good in this color." Blaine grinned, pulling out a dark forest green shirt. "It'll match your eyes."

Sam blushed at Blaine's remark, not sure what to think. Should he feel weird knowing that Blaine had obviously noted his eye color and was thinking what color he would look good in? Maybe it was just something Blaine did and he should not think anything of it. Sam did not know. "Thank you..." Sam replied softly as Blaine handed him the shirt. "Um...will you be here later? I can return this after my interview."

"Oh, probably not." Blaine replied, shutting the cupboard. "I was heading over to the library when I ran into you, but I'll probably just head home now."

"Oh." Sam hoped he did not look too disappointed at the realization that he would not be seeing Blaine again today.

Blaine shrugged, smiling at him. "Don't worry about it. Once you become a teacher here you can return it then."

"_If_ I become a teacher here." Sam replied, laughing.

"Oh, you will." Blaine grinned. "Mr. Henricks is just going to love you. I know it. I'll step outside for a second so you can change and then I'll show you where the room is." And with that Blaine stepped out of the room and shut the door, leaving Sam to change into the green shirt.

Sam watched Blaine go then took a second to look about the room. Everything was pretty much kept neat and orderly, which was something Sam could always approve of. He tended to air on the side of neat freak himself. There were some pictures hanging up on the one wall and Sam could not help taking a second to look at them as he worked on changing into the shirt Blaine had handed him. Some of the pictures seemed to be from when Blaine spent time in New York and some of the pictures were of a seemingly younger Blaine, possibly high school age. The younger pictures showed Blaine with plenty of other people; so he, unlike Sam, must have had lots of friends while growing up. Well, Blaine did seem like the friendly, sociable type. He saw a picture of Blaine with a group of boys and they were all wearing the Dalton uniform. Blaine had attended Dalton? He would have to ask him about that if he got the chance. There was a picture of Blaine out of the Dalton uniform, wearing some sort of performance attire, hanging with a different group of kids. It looked like they were on a school bus. A girl with long brown hair who was holding a trophy sat near the front next to a seemingly very tall boy, and a younger looking Blaine sat in the seat behind them surrounded by a whole bunch of other kids. Sam thought Blaine's smile then was different than the one he had shown him just a few minutes ago. Blaine was sitting with one arm around the shoulder of a girl with short blond hair, and his other arm around the waist of an extremely attractive boy who was quite pale and had perfectly styled hair. Blaine's smile in the picture was stunning; he looked truly happy, like he was on top of the world. Sam found that he really liked that smile.

Sam quickly finished getting changed and grabbed his stuff, leaving the room and smiling at Blaine. "Thank you again, so much. You really didn't have to do this."

"You're welcome, Sam." Blaine grinned, locking the door up behind them. "And I had to do something! It's partially my fault you got coffee on you, remember? Now let's get you over to the office."

Blaine led Sam down a few different hallways – leaving Sam quite confused and wondering how he was ever going to find his way back out later – until he finally stopped outside a closed door. "Here we go. Mr. Henricks' office is this room. Again, I really am sorry about the coffee incident..."

"It's okay; don't worry about it, Blaine." Sam laughed, shrugging. "Look at it this way, we both met someone new thanks to it and I can honestly say that's not a bad thing at all."

"I'll agree with that." Blaine grinned. "Good luck in there. It'll be nice having you around, I can tell."

Sam felt his face redden and he looked away slightly, hoping Blaine was not able to see. "Thanks. I definitely don't think I'll regret coming here." Oh goodness, did that sound weird? What if it sounded flirty? Ack. Sam did not want to scare Blaine away. Maybe it would be better if he did not get the job, because he had a feeling he was going to have trouble keeping his cool when around Blaine.

Blaine said farewell and waved, heading back off in the direction they just came from. Sam let himself watch Blaine go, not sure if this would be the last time he saw him or not. After all, if he did not get this job then he was going to have to look elsewhere, which meant moving again.

Later, coming out of the interview, Sam felt like his chances of getting the job were pretty good. Blaine had been right; Mr. Henricks had indeed liked him quite a bit, plus he had been impressed with Sam's references and experience. Now Sam just had to wait a day or two because there was apparently two other people the school was interviewing for the job.

When he got home later in the afternoon he went online to talk to some of his friends from back in New York. Getting on Facebook he smiled when he saw his friend, Jackson, had finally gotten around to posting the vacation pictures from two months ago. Sam had gone with a small group of friends to the beach. It was the best vacation Sam had ever gone on, though it also had had its awkward moments. Sam and Jackson had been the only two guys on the trip, considering it was sort of a girl's trip. The three girls of their close group of friends considered their two "best gays" as honorary girls, which meant they were included on the vacation. Of course this meant that Jackson and Sam had ended up sharing a hotel room together while the girls shared a room right across the hall from them. This would not have been a problem – Sam and Jackson had known each other since freshman year at NYU, having shared a dorm room together until graduation – but Jackson had decided during the trip he would finally come clean about his feelings towards Sam, something Sam was definitely not ready to deal with or reciprocate. It really had been a surprise, considering Sam had never even thought Jackson could think of him of anything more than just a friend. Well, actually, Sam just never really considered the possibility of any guy actually developing feelings for him – one, he was not ready for a relationship, and two, he knew relationships evolved feelings and getting hurt, something he knew he was not prepared for. Sure it was taking him longer than normal, compared to other people anyway, but Sam knew that when he was ready for a relationship then he would know it. Until then he focused to taking care of himself and trying to keep the close friendships he had as strong as possible. In the end, Jackson had been Sam's first kiss, having thought that kissing first talking later was the best way of dealing with things. Sam had let him down gently, but thankfully Jackson was truly understanding of Sam's feelings and did not make a huge deal out of the situation. Things were slightly awkward after that, but by the middle of the week they realized that nothing had really changed and they could still just act like their normal selves without having to live with the awkward. So they laughed it off and enjoyed the rest of their vacation with the girls.

Figuring it was time for a profile picture change, Sam chose a picture of him standing between Jackson and Addie – the girl member of their best friends trio. Their trio had been dubbed 'the Golden Trio' after their entire group of friends had a Harry Potter marathon night. Sam had never understood how that all made sense – Addie, for some reason not being a Hermione fan, hated being the Hermione member of the group – but the name had stuck so he just went with it.

Sam was still looking at pictures when a notification popped up that he had a new friend request. When he checked it he saw it was from a 'Blaine Anderson'. He felt his heart rate speed up when he clicked on the name and saw a charming picture of the man he had met earlier that day. Sam was just about to accept the friend request when he started to panic slightly. Maybe he should wait till the morning to accept it, because Blaine had just sent the request. It might seem a little weird if he accepted it right away.

Then Sam had another thought. He should probably try not focus too much on Blaine, stop thinking about him so much already, because that was pretty much bound to get his hopes up and he did not even know if Blaine was gay or not. Granted, Sam did not know many straight guys willing to wear bowties just for everyday wear, but there were probably some exceptions out there. Sam just knew he did not want to build this whole thing up in his head and then have everything come crashing down around him. So he would stop this whole 'getting his hopes up' nonsense before it even started. He probably did not have much of a chance anyway. Blaine was way beyond attractive and Sam, well, he was okay looking at least. They had only met once too, so it was not like either of them had much of anything to go on. Sam had always told himself that once he knew he was ready for a relationship then he would not just date someone for their looks. Personality and interests were a much bigger factor for him than appearances. Not everyone shared the same point of view as he did, but that was something he just had to accept.

So Sam decided to wait until morning. He went to bed and laid there for a while, singing softly to himself before finally drifting off.

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><p>The next day though, Sam did not get a chance to get back online until mid-afternoon. He was woken up early, around nine in the morning, by a phone call. Not having installed a phone in his own bedroom yet, Sam tumbled out of bed trying to get to the kitchen where the phone was. By the time he reached it the answering machine had already picked up. When he heard Mr. Henricks' voice speaking he knew he should pick up the phone, but he had frozen, anxiously wanting to know if it was bad news or good news. When he realized the Mr. Henricks' was calling to let him know he had gotten the job, due, not only to the amazing interview he had had, but also to the fact that the other two applicants had one, not shown up to his interview that was right after Sam's, and two, the other one had called to explain she had gotten a job elsewhere, Sam just about jumped for joy in his kitchen, unable to suppress a shout of joy. He had gotten the job!<p>

Before calling Mr. Henricks back, Sam called up his uncle to let him know. They spoke for a while before Sam figured he better get to calling Mr. Henricks up. So right after getting off the phone with his uncle he called and spoke with Mr. Henricks. The new school year did not start for two more weeks, but of course he was welcome to come in like the other teachers normally did to get prepared for the new school year.

After getting off the phone with Mr. Henricks, Sam did a happy spin in his kitchen then laughed at how silly he was being. He went back to his bedroom to get ready for the day and then went back into the kitchen to make lunch. It was not until after he was finished eating that he remembered Blaine's friend request on Facebook. Just thinking about the other man made his face heat up a bit. Sam cleaned up the kitchen then went to his computer to get online. After accepting the friend request he immediately got offline again so he would not be tempted to creep on Blaine's page. It was probably too soon for that.

The rest of the day was spent with papers spread all over the floor with Sam's work supplies. He figured he should do as much as he could now to start on lesson plans and figuring out his office arrangement. Once he saw his office he could figure out how to arrange and decorate it sure students felt comfortable coming to visit him if they needed help. Sam sighed halfway into the evening, taking a quick moment to drop his pen and stretch his arms and legs. Seeing all the work he had gotten done made him smile. Things were going to work out; he could do this.

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><p>When he woke up the next morning he got ready, packing his work stuff up, because he was going to go back to Dalton to set up his office and better acquaint himself with the school. In the last minutes before leaving his apartment, Sam remembered the green shirt he had borrowed from Blaine. He packed it up with his stuff, hoping he would run into Blaine again so he could return it...and maybe just talk to Blaine more.<p>

Unfortunately Sam did not see Blaine around Dalton that day, nor the next few days either. He did however familiarize himself with the school and finished setting up his office. A few of the other teachers who were preparing for the school year stopped by on occasion to introduce themselves. The art teacher, Abby James, was an immediate favorite of Sam's. She would stop by a lot every day, just to talk and ask him questions in attempt to get to know him better. Sam found out that Abby was actually a long term close friend of Blaine's, having known him since he was around the age of six. Not wanting to come off as too interested or creeper-ish, Sam did not ask too many questions about Blaine, just enough to find out that, yes, Blaine had indeed attended Dalton for a while, but had transferred to attend McKinley High for his junior and senior years of high school. Abby would not explain why, but Sam did not pressure her to do so anyway.

Sam did not get to see Blaine again until about two days before the school year started. He was going into his classroom when he heard piano music a few rooms down the hall. Curious – he knew that the room was where the school's choir, the Warblers, practiced after school – Sam went down the hall and peeked into the room.

Blaine was sitting at the piano, eyes closed, as he played the soft, flowing piece of music that Sam did not recognize. He looked relaxed, peaceful, and just...gorgeous. His hair was not gelled down like it had been the first time they saw each other, so curls were unrestrained and every which way. Sam found himself wanting to reach out and run his fingers through them – they looked really soft – and his gaze drifted slightly down to Blaine's face, watching his lips move slightly as if he was mumbling words or phrases to himself silently.

Feeling like he should somehow announce his presence, Sam lightly knocked on the door, startling Blaine out of his music induced trance. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt..."

"Sam!" Blaine grinned, waving a hand dismissively. "No worries! I was just messing around, I guess. Nothing important."

"What were you playing?" Sam asked, wondering if it would be too forward if he went over and sat down next to Blaine at the piano. "It was beautiful."

Blaine smiled at the compliment and gestured for Sam to join him. Once Sam had sat down, Blaine placed his hands back on the piano keys and started playing again, the same piece as before. "It doesn't really have a name yet. It's something I created a while ago for...someone, and, well, things happened and I just never finished it. Now I don't think I ever will, but sometimes I just find myself playing what's already been written, just...because."

"Oh..." Sam glanced up at Blaine, wondering about the parts of the story he was obviously missing, "well, you're pretty talented; this is lovely. Maybe some day you'll get to finish it."

"Who knows..." Blaine replied, a faraway look in his eyes. He stopped mid-way through a musical phrase then turned his head to look at Sam. "So, I was right, wasn't I?"

Sam gave him a confused look. "About what?"

"About getting the job, silly!" Blaine replied, grinning.

"Oh, yes!" Sam laughed, nodding. "You were right. I was really excited when Mr. Henricks called to let me know. Now I just hope I can make sure he doesn't regret hiring me."

Blaine shook his head, patting Sam's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry. You'll be fine, trust me. The students here are great and tend not to give the teachers a hard time, so teaching them is pretty easy."

Sam felt his face reddening at the contact when Blaine touched his shoulder. Looking down at the piano keys in front of him, Sam smiled at the positive reassurance Blaine was giving him. "Thank you. I'm feeling a bit more confident now." Then he remembered he still had Blaine's shirt in his office. "Oh! Your shirt!" He got up from the piano bench. "I have it in my office. If you wait here I can go get it-"

"I'll just come with you." Blaine interrupted, smiling as he stood from the bench as well. "I should be getting back to my office soon anyway. Been procrastinating on my lesson plans..." He laughed, shrugging as he followed Sam out of the room and down to Sam's office.

"Oooh, I like how you've decorated your office!" Blaine commented, glancing about the room as they went in. "You really have an eye for decorating, don't you?"

Sam laughed, shrugging and going over to grab Blaine's shirt where he had sat it the other day. "I like to think so. Doesn't help with the stereotyping, but it comes in handy when you spent your college days with a roommate who had no clue what the hell he was doing and just sort of tossed furniture every which way. I did not enjoy walking into a dark apartment late at night and tripping over old wooden coffee tables."

"_Tables_, as in plural?" Blaine laughed. "Why would you need more than one? And do I detect someone was a party animal in their college days?"

"My roommate, Jackson, liked to collect furniture other people tossed out. I never knew what I'd find when I came home." Sam laughed, leaning back against his desk. "And no, I was most definitely not a party animal. I just did a lot of late night tutoring for night class students. Being a student in New York I really needed the extra money some times." He shrugged. Considering the lack of familial help when it came to paying for further education past high school, Sam had done all he could to get financial help, which included working at a small café and doing some tutoring. All very tiring of course, but he had survived.

"Ah, makes sense to me." Blaine nodded in understanding. "And...what did you mean by 'stereotyping'?"

Sam's face reddened and he looked anywhere but at Blaine. "Er, well, being gay where I came from was not readily accepted, so...you know, bullying, harassing, that sort of thing." He shrugged, not exactly ready to get into that whole topic with someone he had just met, even someone as seemingly nice as Blaine. That part of Sam's life had not been pleasant, not something he wanted to think about a lot. "Apparently the guys at school saw my interest in decorating as stereotypically gay, considering they started bullying me before I even came out."

"Oh..." Blaine sighed softly, "Sam, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked, or something."

"Don't worry about it." Sam shrugged, giving Blaine a weak smile. "As it is, I'd just prefer not talking about it anymore, if possible. It's something I'd rather just forget about." He handed Blaine the green shirt.

Blaine took the shirt slowly from him, an unreadable look upon his face. "Say...I'm out of here around five, do you want to go get coffee or something?"

Sam looked back up at Blaine and his green eyes locked on Blaine's gorgeous hazel ones. He felt his heart practically stop again at the connection. "What? Oh, coffee...okay. That'd be great."

"Awesome." Blaine smiled, heading back for the door. "I'll meet you here beforehand."

Sam waved farewell then waited until Blaine was gone to shut his office door. Feeling his face still warm, he smacked himself lightly and silently told himself to get a grip. It was just coffee.

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><p>Around five Sam was halfway through one of his class' seating chart when he heard a knock on his door. "Come in!" He called, still looking down as he wondered where he should place a 'Marks, Henry'.<p>

"Wow, papers everywhere." Blaine laughed, flopping down in the chair that was on the other side of Sam's desk. "Looks like how my office gets about two weeks into the school year...sadly it stays like that too."

"How sad." Sam laughed, placing Henry in the second seat back from the row closest to the door. Seating charts were never really his thing, but he figured he should at least try to set it in some way that would help him remember as many names as possible. "Your office looks nice when it's all neat and organized. I'll clean all this up tomorrow, cause I'm somewhat of a neat freak myself."

"For now, take a break." Blaine grinned, reaching over to yank Sam's pen from his hand and chuckling at the surprised look Sam gave him. "Let's get coffee. I need it so badly."

Sam was not going to say no to coffee, especially coffee with Blaine. So he packed up the stuff he needed to take home and locked up his office as they left.

Blaine explained that even though the place they were going to was a bit further out it was the best coffee place he had ever been to, which was saying something considering he had been living in New York for a while. He insisted upon driving, even though Sam protested – "Really, Sam, I'm the one who asked you to coffee, so I'll drive!" – and it did take a while before they finally reached the coffee shop. Sam saw the sign for the shop, labeling it the 'Lima Bean', and could see that it was indeed quite popular. There were quite a few people inside when they walked in the door.

"It smells really good in here." Sam remarked, relaxing as the comforting scent of coffee surrounded him.

"I agree." Blaine replied, leading the way to the counter. "Trust me; after you try the coffee here you'll be hooked. It's totally worth the drive. I've been coming here since I was in high school."

Sam wanted to ask Blaine about his high school days, but they had reached the counter. His face went a bright red when Blaine informed him that he would be paying for their coffee as well. "You don't have to do that, Blaine!"

The barista seemed quite amused at their little argument. Sam continued to protest against Blaine paying for him until he found himself being dragged away from the counter. "Sit." Blaine ordered, pushing Sam down onto a chair at a table by the window. "Now tell me your coffee order, silly. And no 'buts'!" Blaine told him sternly as Sam had just been about to protest again. "I invited you to coffee, so I'm paying and that's that."

The look Blaine was giving him made Sam finally give in. Not that he wanted to. He told Blaine his coffee order then sat back to wait as Blaine went back to the counter, having instructed him to not get up from the table or else. When Blaine returned he sat their coffees down and then sat down on the chair across from him.

Sam thanked him shyly before taking a sip of his coffee. "Oh!" He exclaimed in surprise, looking down at the drink he held in his hands. "This is really good..."

Blaine laughed, taking a sip of his own drink. "I told you so! I haven't really tried any of their other drinks, so I don't know how they taste, but I've been getting the same thing since high school and I just love it."

"You went to Dalton, didn't you?" Sam asked, setting his drink down as he watched Blaine. "I saw a picture of you in your office; you were wearing the uniform. Plus Abby told me."

"Oh boy," Blaine laughed, looking slightly embarrassed, "you spoke with Abby. Yes, I did attend Dalton for a bit. She must have told you that I transferred to a different school though to graduate high school."

Sam nodded. "McKinley, correct? I checked it out online. It's...an interesting school."

"Interesting is...putting it lightly, I think." Blaine gave a short laugh.

"Why did you transfer there?" Sam asked curiously. "If you don't mind me asking, I mean, from what I could tell Dalton just seems like a much better school, for several reasons." Blaine's face seemed to fall at the question and Sam immediately backpedaled. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer. I was merely curious."

"No, it's alright." Blaine smiled lightly. "Like yourself, I've had to deal with...bullying, harassment, for things I've had no control over. I transferred to Dalton to escape the torment. In my sophomore year I met someone who would later become very important to me. He was originally from McKinley, having transferred to Dalton to get away for pretty much the same reason I had. In the end he went back to McKinley and being apart was...not enjoyable at all."

"So you transferred there to be with him?" Sam asked quietly. His heart was practically jumping at the confirmation that Blaine was, indeed, gay as well.

"Oh, no...Well, I mean, yes, in a way, that was a contributing factor: being able to spend more time with him, but, no. The main reason I transferred was because I didn't want to hide anymore. I wanted to face that of which I had run from, even if the people involved were different given a different school environment." Blaine shrugged. "So, yeah, that's about it."

"And that guy you wanted to be near..."

"Was my boyfriend; yes." Blaine smiled, nodding slightly. "I was bullied for being gay as well, just like you. So I can understand what you must have gone through when you were in high school."

"Maybe..." Sam replied quietly, glancing out the window to watch a few cars pass by. Sure Blaine may have been bullied and harassed as well, but what about his family? How had the fact that he was gay affect Blaine's family? Sam could not ask without probably causing Blaine to be curious enough to ask about Sam's own family, and that was not something Sam wanted to get into. Even though it had been about ten years ago that he had graduated from high school and kicked out of his home, the wounds still hurt just as badly as they had the day he first heard his parents tell him he was no longer welcome in their home. The familiar rise of nausea and panic rose in Sam's chest as the thoughts and emotions bombarded his mind, but he fought them back, not wanting to have a panic attack right there in the coffee shop.

"Sam?" Blaine asked, concern etched over his features.

"I'm alright." Sam replied hastily, tearing his gaze from the window. "Sorry. I blanked for a second."

Blaine laughed weakly, running a hand through his curls. "No, I'm sorry. Here we are, only seeing each other for the second time, and already we're talking about super personal things. How about we stick with simple, regular pleasant conversation topics for now?"

Sam felt his face reddening again at the implications of Blaine's words. _For now?_ Did that mean that Blaine maybe wanted to spend more time with Sam, eventually getting to know him on a more personal level? He mentally smacked himself again. Things were getting a bit out of control in his head; he was letting himself over think things, letting his imagination run away with its self. Surely Blaine just hoped to become better friends with him over time; that was all.

"I think you're right." Sam chuckled lightly, sipping at his coffee. "You should tell me about the Warblers. I've heard quite a bit about them, but it might be more insightful hearing about them from someone who actually used to belong to the group."

So Blaine told Sam all about the Warblers and what he remembers about the time he spent at Dalton. They spoke for a few more hours until they realized how late it was. When they got up to leave, Blaine grinned and told Sam that if it would make him feel better then he could buy their coffee the next time.

Sam's face had definitely reddened then, but he agreed and hoped it was not totally obvious how thrilled he was that there was going to potentially be a next time for them to have coffee together.


	2. Faces in the photograph

_So...this may have started off a bit slow or something, I don't know, but I have a pretty good storyline in mind now, so things should get more exciting in a while. _

_And really, how could I not have Sebastian in here? Lol. Kurt makes an appearance, as well as a few other old New Directions members. Drama drama drama! YAY! _

* * *

><p>Sam and Blaine went for coffee again the very next day. This time, as promised, Blaine let Sam pay for their coffee. They sat and talked for a few hours before Blaine got a text from Abby, letting them know she had arranged a little get together at her place for some of the teachers, sort of a way for them to kick off the school year together. Blaine insisted that Sam came along and there was no way Sam could say no.<p>

It was not just the fact that Sam had trouble saying 'no' to people, he was honestly sure that there was just not much Blaine could ask him that he could ever say 'no' to. He had come to realize that despite trying not to, plus the fact that they had only known each other for a short period of time, he had developed a rather big crush on the English teacher. It was silly and he was pretty sure Blaine would never be interested in him beyond friendship, but, at the same time, his mind would not let him give up this ridiculous hope that some day maybe...but Blaine could still have a boyfriend. That thought made Sam frown a bit. Blaine had never said he was currently dating anyone, but he had never said he was single either. Even if he was still not dating the same guy from high school, he could be dating _someone_. Sam sighed, not really wanting to go to this teacher get together but unable to change his mind now. Well, at least he could get to know even more of his coworkers.

Thankfully Blaine gave him very good directions to get to Abby's. Sam arrived about a half hour after the get together was supposed to start. Blaine spotted him right away and ran over to drag him further into the apartment to the kitchen.

"You have to try this pasta Abby made!" Blaine insisted, grabbing a plate he must have sat down before. "Try it! Try it!"

Sam laughed, shaking his head in amusement. "Hello to you too, Mr. Anderson." He went to get some of the pasta Blaine was pointing out to him. "Should I have brought something? I can cook pretty well, myself."

Blaine wrinkled his nose, waving hello to another teacher walking by, as he leaned back against a counter. "Just Blaine; my dad is Mr. Anderson. And no, don't worry about not bringing anything. Abby pretty much made everything herself. Then I got to do the set up."

"Oh. Well, if she needs any help with cleaning up afterward I'd be glad to offer my assistance." Sam replied, before going to try a bite of Abby's pasta.

Except he never got to try the first bite, because someone came up beside him and yanked the fork from his hand. "Oh my god, Abby's pasta! Best stuff ever!" The newcomer grinned, winking at Sam before eating the bite of pasta. Sam's face went red at the wink from the taller, attractive fellow. The taller guy then turned to Blaine. "Where've you been hiding this one, Anderson? Delicious, and I'm not talking about the pasta."

"You're as blunt as ever, Sebastian. Sam is the new music teacher, and, no, I haven't been _hiding_ him. You just never pay attention to half of what goes on with the staff." Blaine sounded rather annoyed.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, turning back to Sam in interest who was still standing there quite red faced. "Sebastian Smythe, Dalton's soccer coach and head of the physical education department." He held his hand out to Sam.

"Sam Welson." Sam replied, taking Sebastian's hand reluctantly. His eyes widened slightly when Sebastian did not let go of his hand right away.

"Definitely better looking than last time, Anderson." Sebastian commented, grinning at Sam.

"Sebastian..." Blaine started, a warning tone to his voice.

Sebastian handed Sam his fork back, winking once more before walking away. "I'll have to stop by your office some time, Sam, so we can get...better acquainted."

"Not in the way you have in mind." Sam muttered to himself once Sebastian was out of ear shot. He heard Blaine faintly chuckle next to him as he went to throw out the plastic fork before getting another one. Sharing silverware with someone was not really something Sam was totally fond of, especially someone he could tell he was not going to particularly like. Sebastian seemed a little...too flirtatious for Sam's liking, not to mention the guy looked weird. What did he remind him of? Some sort of animal or something.

"Do you want to go talk to some of the other teachers?" Blaine asked. "We should find Abby."

Sam nodded in agreement and followed Blaine out into the living room of the apartment. They mingled about with all the other teachers for about an hour. Sam hoped it was not obvious that he was trying to avoid Sebastian, who continuously popped up out of nowhere to say hello. Other than that, Sam enjoyed getting to better know the adults he would be working with for hopefully a long time.

He also got to see Abby and Blaine interact, which was quite amusing. Abby liked to tease her best friend a lot, though Blaine gave as good as he got. Sam found himself slightly jealous of their close friendship, considering he, himself, did not have anyone he could claim to be as close to.

Close to eight, Abby announced that she had made cake for desert. A few of the other teachers helped serve the cake, which was decorated with the words 'good luck teachers'.

Sam had been talking to one of the math teachers, sadly having forgotten the fellow's name, when Blaine popped up with a plate in his hands that was holding a piece of cake. "Cake?" He asked both of them. The math teacher went to the kitchen to get some, but Sam shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'll pass. I don't normally eat a lot of sweets. Gotta maintain this lovely figure, you know." Sam laughed, his face reddening slightly at his own comment.

Blaine laughed, shaking his head. "You sound like someone I used to...hang out with." He sighed, smiling sadly at something he seemed to be remembering. "Well, anyway, you should at least try a bite. Abby makes yummy cake too. Here," he held his fork out with a piece of cake on it, "just one bite."

Sam shook his head in protest. "I'll take your word for it."

"Aww, come on!" Blaine laughed, holding the fork up to Sam's lips. "It's yummy! Please? Just try it."

Sam kept his mouth shut tightly, his eyes shining with laughter as his face reddened and he shook his head. Blaine continued insisting until Sam finally just gave in, unable to resist the almost puppy-like eyes Blaine was giving him. "Alright! Just one bite though." Before he could take the fork from Blaine though, Blaine was feeding him the bite of cake. Sam's face was practically burning as he slowly took the piece of cake off the fork with his mouth, eyes locking with Blaine's for a very brief second.

"Is it good?" Blaine asked quietly, slowly pulling the fork away from Sam's mouth.

Sam nodded, chewing the cake slowly. "It's really good. Too good. Take it away before I become too tempted to have more." He laughed nervously, not sure if he was just talking about the cake anymore. The glance he had just shared with Blaine would not leave his mind or the feeling of...something, something besides his heart practically stopping. He was being ridiculous.

"Well, at least you liked it!" Blaine replied, laughing, taking a bite of the cake himself, using the same fork Sam just used.

Sam found himself watching Blaine's lips. Blinking and looking away, Sam caught Sebastian watching him from across the room. Face reddening once more, Sam looked back to Blaine. "Er, it's getting a bit late so I think I'm going to head on home. Figure I'm gonna need the sleep before tomorrow."

Blaine nodded, giving him a soft smile. "Totally understand. And really, don't worry about tomorrow. I know you'll do a great job. The kids will love you."

"Thanks, Blaine." Sam grinned.

They said their farewells and then Sam said farewell to a few more of the teachers before leaving. When he got home he flopped down on his couch for a few minutes, just to relax. Before he knew it he had drifted off to sleep. About two hours later he woke up and sleepily picked himself up and headed for the bedroom, changing into proper sleep attire before setting his alarm clock and falling directly back to sleep.

* * *

><p>His first day of teaching at Dalton went extremely well. The students were nice and Sam was glad to see how eager they were to learn. He had taught students before who just did not care as much, making his job rather difficult.<p>

During lunch though, he had another run in with Sebastian. He was sitting in his office, doing an online search for sheet music, when he heard a knock at his door. For one moment Sam stupidly hoped it was Blaine, but when he looked up he saw a grinning Sebastian, dressed in full on sportswear attire, leaning against the doorframe.

"Oh, hey, Sebastian." Sam smiled politely, looking back down at his computer screen. He heard a soft snort then the click of the door shutting. Well, this guy was very forward, wasn't he?

"How's the teaching going?" Sebastian asked, walking over to lean against Sam's desk.

"Good." Sam replied, still watching his computer screen. "The students are great and easy to teach. Wish it was just as easy to find proper sheet music though. Why is it so hard?" He sighed, giving up on the third website he had decided to check.

Sebastian grinned, laughing. "There are so many inappropriate things I could say to reply to that question."

"All of which I have no desire to hear." Sam replied, his face reddening lightly.

"Well, then," Sebastian smiled, leaning a bit across the desk towards Sam, "how about we do them instead?"

"What?" Sam squeaked, his gaze lifting to Sebastian's in surprise. "No, thank you, not interested."

"Aw, why not?" The taller man pouted playfully, slowly pushing Sam's laptop screen down till it closed. "I find you very interesting."

"Can't." Sam replied, his face still bright red, as he shoved Sebastian's hand off his laptop and opened it again. "There's, uh, someone else..." A lie, but hopefully it would work. There had never been a 'someone else' at all, but Sebastian did not need to know that.

Sebastian sighed, leaning back and shrugging. "I can keep a secret if you can."

Was this guy for real? Sam shook his head, his uncomfortable feelings towards the situation visible upon his face. "I don't cheat."

"Well then," Sebastian shrugged, heading for the door to Sam's office. "If you change your mind you just let me know." He winked before leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Blaine had had a long first day, but he felt good about this year. Things were starting to look up for him, even despite the fact that it had only been about five months since things ended with Kurt. The ending of their relationship had hit Blaine hard. Abby had especially been worried about him, considering she knew Blaine best and could read his emotions better than most of his other friends could. She knew just how much Blaine had loved Kurt, how much he still did and probably always would. They had been together since Blaine's sophomore year of high school and all the way through both their years at college. For them to have made it through all of that together, plus a few more years later, to end the way they had...words could not describe the way Blaine felt, the way every little thing that reminded him of Kurt would cause him to feel like he was being stabbed repetitively through the heart.<p>

It had taken a while, but he was starting to pick himself up again.

And now there was that new guy: Sam. When Blaine had ran into Sam that day in the hallway and first locked eyes with him...he had felt something he had not felt in a long time, something stirring in him that had him wondering if maybe there was still hope for him after all, hope that he could maybe, just maybe, be able to let himself fall in love with someone once more.

To say he was guarded though was saying the least; after what he had just been through Blaine was extremely protective of his feelings. He had no intention of allowing himself to fall in love again, only to be hurt just as badly a second time. Only time would tell if he might be able to open himself up again, let himself be vulnerable to the potential heart break he just might experience...or the hope of a long-lasting relationship that could end up with that happily ever after he had once believed he would have with Kurt.

"Anderson? Blaine! Yo, dude, you zoning?" A voice broke through his thoughts, causing him to snap back to reality.

"What do you want, Sebastian?" Blaine asked, sighing as he rubbed his forehead. He should have gotten more sleep the night before.

Sebastian grinned, sitting down across from him in the teacher's lounge. There was only a few other teachers in the room, all doing their own thing and not paying any attention to the others who surrounded them. "So, I just had a little chat with Sam...in his office."

Blaine crooked an eyebrow at his old friend and wondered how that little visit had gone. At the party the day before, Sam had not seemed particularly thrilled by Sebastian's mild advances. Alone in an office with him, Sebastian had probably been a bit more...forward. "And how did that go?"

"Oh, don't act like you aren't more interested." Sebastian laughed, smirking at him. "I could tell watching you two yesterday that you're interested in the guy. Which is good considering-"

"Please, don't. I don't want to talk about...him." Blaine glared.

"Sorry, Blaine." Sebastian shrugged, not looking all that sorry at all. "Anyway, so there I was, just being my oh so charming self, and the guy totally blew me off. I mean, hello, am I not attractive?" He did not even wait for Blaine to reply, obviously allowing himself to believe Blaine would at least slightly agree with him. "But, no, he said there was someone else. You could have told me he was seeing someone. I mean, I'd probably have still tried to waste my time with him, but still!"

Blaine felt his insides churn unpleasantly at Sebastian's words. He had not directly asked Sam if he was seeing anyone or not, not wanting to make it obvious that he, himself, was too interested, but maybe he should have. Then he would not have spent more time than he should have wondering what his chances were of them possibly becoming more than friends in the future. Ah well. It was probably better this way. He would not have to worry about getting hurt again.

"I didn't know either." Blaine shrugged, trying not to look too disappointed. "And why do you waste your time with...unattainable men?" He asked curiously. "I mean, you saw how well that worked for you before...I just don't get it."

"Eh, sometimes I just find it more fun that way." Sebastian grinned. "Well, I'm not giving up on him. I call dibs, just so you know." He laughed, standing back up and heading for the doorway. "You may have met him first, but I am so gonna sleep with him first." Winking, he disappeared from the room, leaving Blaine alone at the table, shaking his head in disapproval.

* * *

><p>Sam was disappointed when he did not get to see Blaine all day. After leaving the school he had a craving for coffee, so he decided he would go all the way back to the Lima Bean again. Blaine had been right, the coffee was addicting.<p>

When he got there it was mid-afternoon so there were quite a few people inside. He got into line behind a girl wearing a pale pink dress, her blond hair pulled up in a ponytail. She was standing next to a taller guy who was sporting a shaved head, and another tall guy who was wearing an extremely...stylish outfit. Sam recognized the shoes from one of his fashion magazines; he could not remember the designer's name, only that the shoes themselves had to be very expensive.

They were conversing rather loudly in front of him, stepping off to the side after ordering their coffee. Sam tuned them out while ordering his own coffee. It was not until he moved off to the side to wait for his drink that he heard something that caught his interest.

"-been a while since we saw Blaine." The man with no hair was commenting.

"Puck!" The blond girl protested, giving him a very bitchy glare. Sam thought she looked awfully familiar. Where had he seen her before?

"It's alright, Quinn." The impeccably dressed man spoke up quietly. Sam had to strain to hear him speak. The man's voice was oddly feminine, but in a good way. Sam liked it. "I'm not going to fall apart or anything, just because Blaine's name is mentioned. The entire mess is my fault anyway, so I deserve to be...emotionally tortured, I guess."

"Kurt, you don't have to spend the rest of your life beating yourself up over this." The girl, Quinn, replied sternly. "You did what you thought was best."

"Well," Kurt sighed, "while we're back in Ohio let's just steer clear of the topic, alright? And I know you wanted to visit Abby, but if you do I'm not coming with you. I'm staying as far away from Westerville as I can get."

Abby? Westerville? Sam wondered at the odd feeling he was getting in his chest. How many Abby's and Blaine's could there be in Westerville? They had to be talking about the same Blaine and Abby he knew from Dalton. Then he remembered where he had seen the blond haired girl before: the picture in Blaine's office. He had not gotten a good look at the men's faces yet because they had their backs towards him, but he wondered if he would recognize them from the picture as well.

Their coffees were called and just as they were moving to the counter to get them, Sam's coffee was called as well. As Sam was reaching for his coffee his shoulder accidentally bumped against Kurt's.

"Sorry!" The taller man turned, giving him an apologetic smile.

Sam found himself unable to respond at first. It was the attractive boy from the old picture in Blaine's office, the boy Blaine had had his arm around, Kurt. Well, Kurt's looks had gotten even better over time. The man in front of him was stunning, and those eyes were absolutely gorgeous. Sam realized he had been staring for probably longer than was necessary. He cleared his throat, his face reddening, and shook his head in embarrassment. "No, I'm sorry. I'm the one who bumped into you." Was Kurt the boy Blaine had used to date? If so and they were not together anymore then how, because this man seemed like someone you could not just let go of.

"Well, no worries. I'm Kurt Hummel." Kurt smiled, holding his hand out.

Sam shook his hand, noting how soft it was. "Sam Welson."

"This is Quinn Fabray and Noah Puckerman." Kurt introduced his two friends. They both said hello. Sam realized he recognized Noah from the picture as well, though in the picture Noah had had a mohawk.

"No one calls me Noah though. Just Puck." Puck remarked.

They moved away from the counter and asked Sam to join them. Sam wondered if it was really a good idea to be hanging out and getting to know people that were apparently old friends of Blaine's, one potentially being an old boyfriend, but, considering they were unaware of the fact that he knew Blaine, he figured it might be impolite if he just left in a rush.

"Are you guys all from Ohio?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Yeah." Quinn replied, sitting down next to Puck. That left the seat next to Kurt open for Sam. He was not sure how he felt about the seating situation, but knew if he made a big deal out of it then they might start to suspect something. This was a really odd situation he found himself in. "We all went to high school together."

"We're back for a little bit; just to visit some old friends." Kurt explained. "We were all in our high school's glee club, so we like to have little 'family reunions' once in a while. You have a slight southern accent," he noted to Sam's surprise, "are you just here on a visit?"

"Wow, I'm surprised you noticed." Sam laughed. "I grew up in Alabama, but moved to New York after high school for college. Figured I had grown out of my accent a bit, most people can never tell. I moved here for a teaching job in Westerville."

The look on Kurt's face reminded Sam a tiny bit of the one Blaine had given him when he had first mentioned having lived in New York for a while. By this point Sam was convinced that Kurt was definitely an old boyfriend of Blaine's. Now he was just curious as to why things had broken off, because obviously something bad had happened between the two.

"Well, Westerville is a lovely town." Quinn replied softly. "Where do you teach?"

Sam wondered if she was fishing around for information, like whether he might know Blaine or not, just for Kurt's sake. Ah well. He was not going to lie to them. "The all boy's school, Dalton Academy. My uncle lives in Westerville and told me he had heard they needed a new music teacher. It's an impressive school and the staff is wonderful. Sort of makes me wish I had gone there when I was still in high school." He laughed softly.

"I went there for a short while, myself." Kurt told him quietly, his smile seemingly quite guarded. "It is an amazing school. We should probably get going, since we have to meet Mercedes in a little while." He spoke to Quinn and Puck. Turning back to Sam, Kurt pulled a pen out of his coat pocket and wrote a number down on a napkin. "Here, text me sometime." He winked, pushing the napkin in front of Sam, before standing up from the table. Then he walked over to the door of the coffee shop, waiting for Quinn and Puck before leaving. Sam blinked, not entirely sure what had just happened. He looked down at the number in front of him. Blaine's ex boyfriend had just given him his number...and winked at him, how odd. Then he saw Kurt had left his pen lying there on the table as well. Either he actually forgot it, or he left it there as a way of giving Sam an excuse for actually texting him.

Sam honestly did not know what to do.


	3. A web of a mess

_And yet another chapter! :3 I'm not really intending for this story to be super long, but you never know, I guess. I definitely don't intend for there to be 20-30 pg. chapters like in my huge Klaine fic. I know I said this isn't really 'Don't know where, don't know when' universe related, but I am sort of keeping a lot of the characters' background stories very similar, just because I like my characters and their background stories. Keeps things slightly different from the actual Gleeverse and all. So yeah...you'll probably see a lot of characters from the Dkw,dkw universe making an appearance in here. _

_My problem with writing shorter fics is that I feel like everything plot related is kind of rushed then, and I'm not a huge fan of that. I like detail and making sure people can get the full story. So roll with me here, folks, because this is difficult for me. Haha._

* * *

><p>By the time Sam got home he had just about forgotten he had the decision to make of whether to contact Kurt or not. As he got into his apartment and took his jacket off, Kurt's pen fell out of his pocket and clattered to the floor.<p>

"Oh...right." Sam sighed, reaching down to pick up the pen. He set it on the coffee table and then went to make dinner. In the end he decided to wait till the next day to contact Kurt.

His second day of teaching at Dalton went just as well. Even better though, he spotted Blaine first thing in the morning, waving hello to him as he headed for the music room.

Sam did not text Kurt until lunchtime, pulling his phone out as he headed to the teacher's lounge in hopes of finding Blaine and possibly eating with him.

_You left your pen on the table yesterday._

He had just shut his office door when his phone vibrated in his hand.

_**I know.**_

Sam sighed, wishing Kurt had given him more to work with. He did not exactly know how to respond to that. _Guess that means I have to return it, huh?_

_**I know.**_

"What?" Sam exclaimed in exasperation. Couldn't this guy say anything else? _Can't you say anything else? Lol. What don't you know?_

There was a pause as Sam made his way down the spiral staircase. _**I don't know if you'll be going to dinner with me tonight or not.**_

Sam halted at the bottom of the staircase in shock. What was going on here? Kurt knew he taught at Dalton, so, that being said, Kurt had to know that Sam was acquainted with Blaine. Then again...Kurt did not know that Sam knew about his and Blaine's old relationship.

His phone vibrated again and he looked down to see an incoming call from Kurt. "Hello?" Sam answered tentatively.

"_Hey, Sam_." Kurt replied brightly.

"So...you're indirectly asking me out to dinner?" Sam asked in confusion.

"_Why, yes, I_-"

"Hey, Sam- oh, sorry." Sam turned to see Blaine approaching him. Blaine had paused though, realizing Sam was on the phone.

Sam waved, holding a finger up to indicate Blaine should wait. His face had reddened at Blaine's appearance, though it was not just because he felt the fluttering feeling in his heart that was increasingly becoming familiar every time Blaine was around; he was also feeling very uncomfortable with the fact that he was currently on the phone with Kurt at the moment.

"_Is someone there? Do you have to go?_" Kurt was asking in his ear.

"Yeah, sorry." Sam apologized, figuring it was probably best to get off the phone with Kurt as quickly as possible.

"_So is that a yes for dinner?_"

Sam bit his lip, trying to decide what the best thing to do in this situation was. Considering he really did not have a boyfriend to use as an excuse, and the fact that Kurt had no idea Sam already knew about him and Blaine, Sam honestly could not think of a good enough excuse as to why he could not. It was not like he had any real school work to attend to either, since it was only the second day of the school year.

"Alright." Sam finally replied quietly, keeping his gaze trained on the floor. "Where are we meeting for dinner?"

"_Can I pick you up?_"

"Uh...sure. Alright." Sam replied, hoping he did not sound too nervous at the idea of Kurt coming to his apartment to pick him up. What in the world was he doing?

"_Lovely. Text me your address later. I don't want to keep you from whoever's waiting._"

"Okay. See you tonight." Sam replied, ending the call as soon as Kurt said goodbye as well. Tucking his phone into his pocket he turned back to Blaine. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright." Blaine replied, shrugging. "I didn't mean to interrupt." He looked somewhat disappointed, and something else that Sam could not quite decipher.

"Were you heading to the lounge for lunch?" Sam asked, hoping to change the topic and get rid of the awkward feeling in the air surrounding them.

"Ah, no." Blaine shook his head. "I need to go print some flyers for the drama club. Care to join me?"

He looked so hopeful Sam just could not say no. "Love to." He grinned; glad he was not that hungry anyway. Skipping lunch for a day was no big deal.

They made their way to the library and headed over to the printer. Blaine used the computer sitting next to it to open up the word document he needed to print.

"Those are nice flyers." Sam commented, approving of the layout and simple lined border around the edge of the text.

"Thanks." Blaine grinned, hitting the print button. They stood back, waiting for the printer to start and finish printing the flyers out.

A silence settled between them, but thankfully it was a bit more comfortable than before. Sam tried to stealthily study Blaine out of the corner of his eye, wondering what the English teacher was looking so lost in thought about. "What are you doing this weekend?" He asked suddenly, wanting to break the silence.

"Huh?" Blaine asked, looking up at him in surprise. "Oh, um, nothing really."

"Do you want to hang out?" Sam asked. At Blaine surprised look, Sam felt his face redden. "I mean, you don't have to. I just- I'm not doing anything either, so I figured..."

Blaine laughed. "Sure, let's hang out. I can show you a bit more of the town, how about it?"

"That'd be great." Sam replied, smiling brightly.

* * *

><p>Kurt Hummel knew he was not really a bad guy. Sure he had made mistakes in his life, not to mention the big one he did not like to think about, but he did not think those necessarily made him a bad guy.<p>

At the moment though, he was starting to think otherwise of himself. After all, it was not good to be using Sam like this, right? In the end, if Sam found out – which he most likely would – then he was pretty sure his reaction would not be all too good, not to mention Kurt would be hurting him emotionally.

Kurt could not remember exactly when the idea of trying to get Blaine back really hit him, but up until yesterday he had had no real way to go about his plan. Now there was Sam. The thought had struck him when they met Sam in the Lima Bean and had found out that he taught at Dalton. Dalton; where Blaine himself taught. It was too good to be true. Getting close to Sam could mean finding a way to get closer to Blaine again...somehow. Kurt had not figured out those little details yet. So he was going to start off with getting closer to Sam. Leading him on was probably not the best idea, but for now it would work. And he was not going to tell his friends about this yet, because who knew what kind of feedback he would get for this. For now, around them, he would act like he had been for the past couple of months – getting over Blaine and trying not to beat himself up too much over his big mistake.

Yeah...maybe he was a bad guy after all.

His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out to see a text message – from _him_.

_**Miss you, babe! We'll hang out when you get back to NY, okay?**_

Kurt sighed, reluctantly replying to the text. _We can't. I told you we're done. It's never going to happen again._

_**Ha, sure, K. I know you; you always come back. ;)**_

He could practically see _his_ smile, that knowing, sure smile that saw right through him every time.

A sickening feeling settled in Kurt's stomach and he deleted the text, deciding to never reply to _him_ again. He was stronger than this; he would win.

And he would get Blaine back.

* * *

><p>"Well, well, well, someone really knows how to decorate, don't they?"<p>

Sam laughed, stepping back as Kurt entered his apartment to get a good look around. "Thanks...decorating has always been an interest of mine. And don't tell anyone but I have a secret obsession with foreign fashion and interior design magazines. Goodness knows I can't read half of them, but I get them anyway."

"Oh, honey, there is nothing wrong with that." Kurt laughed. "I get some myself. When you work in the fashion industry you need to know a bit of everything."

"Is that what you do?" Sam asked curiously. He could hardly blame himself for asking questions to get to know Kurt better. Kurt seemed like an interesting guy.

Kurt nodded in reply. "Yeah. Slowly working my way up the ladder, you know? Thankfully it's been a few years since I graduated from college and have gained plenty more experience and recognition. Though I also perform in shows when I get the chance; it's always been a dream of mine to perform on Broadway."

"Oh, goodness." Sam grinned. "You're busy a lot, aren't you? I love Broadway shows, myself. If I wasn't such a terrible actor I might have tried for a dream like that."

They continued their conversation as they left Sam's apartment and headed for Kurt's car. Kurt had yet to tell him where they were eating dinner, so Sam figured it was just going to be a surprise. Thankfully their taste in music was kind of similar so the car ride was enjoyable. Sam was actually having fun getting to know Kurt more, but he still held some reservation towards the entire thing. Either Kurt was actually interested in him, or he was perhaps actually just using him in some sort of way to hear about Blaine. Sam just knew Blaine was related to this somehow. Maybe it would all make more sense if Sam actually knew what had happened between them.

And to be honest, Sam thought Kurt was interesting, but he really was not attracted to him in the same sense as he was to Blaine. So there was no way Sam was looking for a romantic relationship out of all this, just a possible friendship.

The ride was long and Sam realized they were back in Lima. When they arrived at the restaurant he laughed a little bit when he saw the sign. "Breadstix?"

"And theirs are awful, ironically." Kurt replied, laughing too. "This was a regular place for kids to hang out and eat dinner at when I was in school. It's pretty good."

"Despite their terrible breadsticks?"

Kurt grinned, nodding. "Yes, despite their terrible breadsticks."

* * *

><p>"How was your night?"<p>

Sam looked up from his coffee and newspaper to see a grinning Sebastian staring down at him. "Um...it was good. Why do you ask?" He had not even noticed the soccer coach entering his office.

Sebastian pulled one of the office's chairs around to Sam's side of the desk and flopped down next to him. "Just wondering. Trying to make conversation and all, you know." He leaned forward, propping his chin in the palm of his hand.

"Well, that's quite nice of you. I guess." Sam smiled politely before turning back to his paper. Sebastian made him uncomfortable.

"No, no, no, now's the part where you go 'oh, well then, how was _your_ night, Sebastian, you handsome man you?'" Sebastian pouted playfully, tugging Sam's paper from his hands. "And of course I would answer with 'oh, it was ever so lonely, because I did not have an equally handsome man as your self to keep me company.'"

"How depressing for you." Sam replied, an annoyed edge to his voice. "Now may I have my paper back?"

"Nope." Sebastian replied. "Not until you agree to go to dinner with me."

"Why would I do that?" Sam scoffed. "I have no interest in doing so whatsoever."

"Yet you did with Kurt Hummel."

Sam froze, turning to give Sebastian a confused stare. "How did you know I went to dinner with Kurt?"

"Do you honestly think I like staying home alone when I'm bored and having nothing better to do?" Sebastian laughed. "No way. I had a date last night too. Some dude I'll never see again, but whatever. The sex was worth it. We just so happened to be at a little restaurant called 'Breadstix' when what to my wondering eyes did appear across the room...but a very handsome Sam Welson sitting with one dreadful Kurt Hummel."

"Kurt was very nice, not dreadful at all." Sam glared. "How do you know him anyway?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Oh, Hummel and I go way back; all the way back to high school years, filled with teen angst and 'hello, you have a seriously bad case of the gay face and I'm going to steal your boyfriend from you' which, sadly, did not work. Not that it mattered since, in the end, Hummel ruined that little party all by himself. Shame after all the years they were together."

Sam gaped at him, not entirely sure what to think. It totally did not surprise him at all that Sebastian tried to get in between their relationship. In a way, at least, he might get to finally know what happened between Kurt and Blaine. Though at the same time...was it wrong of him to try and find out more about Blaine behind his back? Maybe he should just wait and ask Blaine...or even Kurt.

At the moment though, he kind of had a bigger problem. What if Sebastian told Blaine that Sam had had dinner with Kurt? Would that ruin his chances of ever getting closer to Blaine? Sam did not want that to happen. "Look, I ran into Kurt and some of his friends at the Lima Bean the other day and after talking for a bit he gave me his number before he left. I didn't know about his past...involvement with Blaine." A lie, but Sebastian did not need to know that. "If I had known then I most likely would have declined the offer to dinner and then that would be that. Could you please just...don't tell Blaine about this? I don't plan on getting..._involved_ with Kurt, so there's nothing to worry about."

"Well," Sebastian watched him, giving him a thoughtful look, "Blaine was really upset about all the stuff with Kurt, so I don't really want him to get hurt anymore. And this would be really good blackmail..." His face lit up at the possibility, while Sam's fell. "So, alright, I won't tell him. Just don't hold me responsible if he ever does find out."

Sam was about to thank Sebastian for keeping things a secret when he suddenly found the other man's lips on his own. Eyes widening, Sam jerked back in his chair. "What the heck was that for?" He was not even discrete about wiping his mouth off with his shirt sleeve.

Sebastian laughed, getting out of his chair to lean slightly over Sam, tilting his chin up gently with a finger. "That's how this blackmail process is going to work, babe, but don't worry. I won't tell your boyfriend you probably don't even have, and I won't pressure you to do anything you're not comfortable with." There was a slight pause at the end of his statement, as if he had been about to add 'yet' at the end of it. Sam shivered slightly. "So," he leaned down, smirking before kissing Sam once more, "get used to it, because I am going to rather enjoy this."

Sam was mentally beating himself up as Sebastian winked then backed away, waving as he said farewell and left the office. "Shit..." Sam groaned, letting his head fall down to smack his desk. This had been totally unexpected, and Sam probably had handled it terribly as well. And now he was pretty much stuck as Sebastian's...make out buddy or whatever until who knew when. It was almost enough to make him just go tell Blaine he had gone to dinner with Kurt...almost.

To make it worse...Sam was just really not comfortable with this arrangement. He was not the type to just randomly kiss who ever. He preferred actually being interested in someone, or actually being in a relationship with someone, before being physically involved. Being physical with someone just for the heck of it was not really his thing. It made him uncomfortable, especially because he was already shy about this sort of thing in the first place. Sam had little to no experience when it came to intimacy. He had only been kissed on the lips twice before today, the first time being the playground incident when he was little and the second time being with Jackson over the past summer's vacation. Beyond that...no experience at all, and he did not want his intimate 'firsts' being with someone he did not even romantically care about.

His phone vibrated on top of his desk and he lifted his head to see he had a new text message. Checking it he saw it was from Kurt.

_**Did you have a good time last night?**_

Sam smiled lightly, despite his current inner turmoil, and replied. _I did, thank you._

_**Good. I have fun news! I'm going to be in Lima for a while. :D**_

Whether this was good news or not Sam was not too sure yet; their dinner together really had been nice, and, despite how horrible Kurt was apparently suppose to be, Sam had actually found him to be quite fun. The more Kurt was around though, the harder it would most likely become for Sam to keep things all a secret from Blaine. He did not know what to do.

_Really? Is it for work?_

_**Nope! My stepbrother's getting married and somehow I managed to convince him a while back that making me their wedding planner was the safest way to go. So the wedding's in two weeks and the bride is going insane, so I'm sticking around to help as much as I can.**_

_That sounds like fun. I remember you saying you planned your dad's second wedding all by yourself, so your stepbrother's should be just as marvelous. _

_**Thanks! I suppose this means we can see each other again too. If you want to, that is. **_

Sam bit his lip, wishing he could just tell Kurt that was not a good idea at all. He was not ready yet to tell Kurt why though. _I'd like that._

* * *

><p>The weekend approached fast and Sam was glad for it. He loved teaching and the students were wonderful, but some times he just needed time away from people, and kids coming to his office all the time to ask for help. Not to mention that Sebastian found all sorts of reasons to come to his office now, generally around once or twice a day. As much as he did not like it, Sam was getting pretty used to having to kiss Sebastian. It still made him quite uncomfortable, but knowing that if he did not then Sebastian would tell Blaine about the date he had had with Kurt...well, Sam would survive.<p>

Saturday morning there was a knock at his door and he opened it to see Blaine standing there, holding two coffees and looking quite awake and chipper. "I wish I could feel as awake as you look right now." Sam laughed, grinning in thanks when Blaine handed him one of the coffees.

"To tell you the truth, I already had some coffee before this one." Blaine laughed. "And I can be a morning person when I try. Plus I was looking forward to today." He admitted, causing Sam's cheeks to redden slightly.

"Same." Sam replied softly. He went and grabbed his jacket before they left the apartment. "So, ready to be my little tour guide?"

"I object to the term 'little', Mr. Giant." Blaine pouted, smacking Sam's shoulder playfully.

"My apologies." Sam laughed. "And hey! I'm not that tall, hobbit."

Blaine laughed. "Now that's one I'm used to. If I'm a hobbit then you're a giant. So let's go, giant, because we have a lot of ground to cover."

"Should I bring weapons, just in case?" Sam asked, his face glowing in amusement.

"Hmm, I suppose those might come in handy if we are to fend off the orcs once we reach the mall of doom." Blaine replied cheerfully.

"Okay...I think someone has had too much coffee." Sam laughed, playfully snatching Blaine's coffee from him.

Blaine gasped, yanking the cup back. "No! My precioussss!"

* * *

><p>They spent most of the day just driving about and seeing most of the town. Sam insisted upon paying for their lunch since Blaine was kind enough to spend the day with him and show him about. Blaine protested stating that he would have done it anyway no matter what, so it was no big deal, but in the end Sam won.<p>

By the time they were heading back to Sam's apartment it was close to evening. Blaine drove passed the apartment building though, much to Sam's confusion. When he asked where they were going Blaine just told him to wait and see. They pulled into the parking lot next to the park that was at the end of Sam's street.

"Um...why are we at the park?" Sam asked, grinning as they both got out of the car.

"I've never been here." Blaine admitted. "I saw it down the street when I got to your place this morning and thought it might be fun to visit."

"Well, it is a nice park." Sam replied. "Since I've moved here I take walks in the morning sometimes. There's an elderly couple that always sits on that bench over there who wave to me as I go by." He pointed to the bench he was talking about. "They're adorable."

There was no one else really around at the moment since it was getting dark outside. They went over to the edge of the playground and Blaine laughed when he saw the swings that were close by. "Oh my god, I love swings." He grabbed Sam's hand and practically skipped over to them.

"You're like a puppy." Sam commented, laughing as Blaine sat down on one of the swings and started swinging his legs back and forth.

Blaine laughed, shrugging as he continued to swing. "An adorable puppy!"

"I can't disagree with that." Sam mumbled quietly to himself as he sat on the swing next to Blaine, letting his self move lazily back and forth. The last time he had been on a swing set was when he was ten, the day at the park that he would never forget. This was really bringing back memories.

"What are you thinking about?" A voice tore him from his thoughts. Sam looked up to see Blaine watching him, having stopped swinging to do so properly. "You looked rather...lost."

"Oh," Sam blushed, laughing weakly as he shrugged, "sorry. I was just remembering some things from a long time ago."

"Do I get to ask about what?" Blaine smiled softly at him.

Sam was silent, biting his lip as he thought for a few seconds. He had never told anyone the story about the rainy day in the park, not even his close friends from New York. It was not a matter of trust, the story was just so personal he felt like he could only share it with someone he really cared about; someone he knew cared about him just as much. He did not know if Blaine had any interest in him besides friendship, but he knew that he, himself, really cared about Blaine already, so maybe it would be okay to share this personal story with him.

"My first kiss was on a playground." Sam admitted quietly. "I was only ten. It was one of those days where everything just felt...terrible. The weather was ugly, it had been raining all day, my parents had fought about something or other that morning that I could not remember, and I spent the entire day at school pretty much hiding in the bathroom from all the kids who had been picking on me. It was always I looked weird, or sounded weird, or was just plain...weird. You know how little kids can be, picking on each other for the most pointless things." Sam sighed, shrugging. He felt a hand grab his from the swing chain and turned his head to watch as Blaine linked their fingers together. It felt nice, holding someone else's hand for once, especially Blaine's, and Sam smiled softly as they let their linked hands swing gently back and forth between them.

"After school that day I was supposed to walk straight home, as always, where the babysitter would be waiting. I was in such a bad mood, and was so upset, that instead I walked, in the rain, to the playground. There was no one else there and I just sat on one of the swings. That was all I did, for about twenty minutes, I'd say, before someone else showed up. It was one of the boys in my class, not one of the ones who picked on me, but not one of the ones who tried to be my friend either. He sat down next to me and set his backpack on the ground. When I asked why he was there he told me he had gone to the library after school and was just on his way home when he saw me. It was really strange, because I was not used to other kids really talking to me. Honestly I didn't have many friends at all until I went off to college and left the state. Anyway, I asked him what books he got, because I didn't know what else to talk about. He said he was returning some because he and his family were moving away. I remember feeling sad then, because one of the only kids who ever tried talking to me was now moving away. It wasn't long before he said he had to leave. When he stood up he told me he was sorry the other kids picked on me and that if he wasn't moving away then he would try to be my friend, because he really liked me. And then...then he leaned over and kissed me." Sam paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I just remember being really confused at first, but then thinking that it was kind of nice. When he pulled away I asked him why he had done that and he said that he was pretty sure it was okay to kiss people that you liked, because that's what his parents did. After that we said goodbye and he left. I've never seen him again. I never told anyone about that kiss either. You're the first person I've told."

Blaine was silent, taking it all in, before finally speaking. "Wow...so, after that, is that when you started to think that maybe you were gay?"

"Well...the idea didn't really occur to me at first. I didn't know the term." Sam admitted. "I just thought...that it was okay; that it was perfectly alright for two boys to kiss, though I was sure, since I had no other friends, that I would never find anyone who would be interested in kissing me anyway. One day though, I was listening to...some adults talking and heard them saying how gross it was. They said such terrible things that I told myself right then and there that I was never going to tell anyone about what happened in the park. I suppose I knew ever since that day, but it was not until middle school, when kids started dating and I held no interest in girls whatsoever, that I truly believed it." And it was not just 'some adults' that Sam heard talking about gay people, it had been his very own family members at a family get together.

"I'm honored you've told me something so personal, Sam." Blaine smiled softly at him. "I won't tell anyone, I promise. That's your story to share and it wouldn't be my place to do so."

Sam smiled, squeezing Blaine's hand gently. "Thank you. That means a lot."

"So, can I ask about your parents?" Blaine asked tentatively. "Like, how did they respond to your coming out?"

Sam blanched, dropping Blaine's hand quickly and gripping the swing chain so hard that his knuckles shown white. "I'm sorry. I can't..." He did not like thinking about them or the day he finally told them that he was gay. It made him sick.

"Oh god, Sam, I'm sorry." Blaine panicked, reaching over tentatively to place a hand on Sam's shoulder. Sam flinched away to avoid the contact - physical contact when he was this close to panicking always made his panic attacks feel worse. Otherwise he might have allowed himself to let Blaine's comforting hand stay on his shoulder. There was a long, awkward silence, before Blaine spoke once more. "When I came out to my parents it was after I was bullied so badly I ended up in the hospital. Abby stayed with me until my parents got there. They were always so busy, and I was honestly surprised they had turned around from their business trip to see me in the hospital. While my mother was fussing over me I just...I just blurted it out; that I was gay and the reason no one had done anything to stop the bullying was because no one cared. My father pretty much instantly rejected the whole thing and practically told me I got what I deserved. He left and we haven't really been...close since then. My mother on the other hand was surprisingly accepting of me. I'm not really sure if telling you any of this really helps...but I just want you to know that you can talk to me about anything, whenever you're comfortable and ready to. I'm here for you, Sam. We haven't known each other that long, but...it feels longer." Blaine admitted, laughing nervously.

"Thank you..." Sam replied quietly, willing himself not to cry. It had been such a long time since the day he came out to his parents, but Sam was a pretty sensitive guy and things like what had happened between him and his parents stuck with him for a very long time. The fact that it was his family involved, well, that made it even worse.

Blaine stood, moving over to stand in front of Sam's swing. He held his hand out, waiting for Sam to take it. Sam was surprised at first, but then he smiled lightly, reaching out to take Blaine's hand as he stood. "Let's get you home. It's getting late." It had gotten rather dark outside.

As they walked back to the car Sam found himself wishing the distance was not so short, because then he would not have to let go of Blaine's hand so soon. "I'm sorry to hear about the whole hospital thing. It's good to know you had Abby there for you. You two really are close."

"We are." Blaine smiled. "We've been friends since we were about six. She was ill a lot so I went to visit her in the hospital often before she was well enough to get out. Thankfully her illness has not returned since then. And as for my brief stay at the hospital, well, I always tell myself it could have been worse."

They reached the car and realized that of course they would have to let go of each other's hand then. Sam noticed Blaine's slight reluctance to do so and he almost smiled, quickly covering it up as he went over to get into the passenger side of the vehicle.


	4. Huge misunderstandings

The whole next week seemed to pass by pretty quickly. Luckily Kurt seemed to be pretty busy so Sam was not asked to hang out with him. This of course gave him plenty of more free time to spend time with Blaine. Sam loved getting to know Blaine more. They had a lot in common and never seemed to run out of things to talk about. Blaine never brought up Sam's parents again after the night in the park.

Sam still had to deal with Sebastian though, which was getting a little old. It got even worse when he showed up at Sam's apartment Wednesday afternoon, just because he wanted some alone time. Sebastian was always true to his word though, never pushing Sam further than he was comfortable. Sam was really starting to wonder though if this was even worth it. He would rather Blaine just know, instead of having to endure about an hour of 'alone time' with Sebastian, which was not the most fun in the world.

When Friday came though, Sam got an unexpected visitor. All in all a good thing, considering his day had not started off the best. By the end of the day though he was wishing Friday had never happened.

It all started when Sam walked into his office that morning before the school day started. To his surprise Sebastian was there already waiting for him.

"Oh my god." Sam groaned, setting his work back down and taking off his jacket. "Did you not get laid last night or something? Why are you here this early?"

Sebastian laughed, shrugging. "Actually I did. No, I'm here just to let you know that I don't feel like doing this anymore."

"What?" Sam was confused. "Wait...as in, I don't have to be your make out buddy anymore? I'm all for that, but the whole reason this came about was because of your whole blackmail thing. So does that mean you're going to tell Blaine about my dinner date with Kurt?"

"Yes, you're free from being my make out buddy." Sebastian grinned. "And no, I'm not going to tell Blaine anything."

Well, that was good at least. "I'm definitely not going to complain...but can I ask why?"

"You're kind of boring." The soccer coach replied. He laughed at Sam's surprised look. "Sorry, but I can't be satisfied with plain old making out forever. I'm not going to make you do things you don't want to, I'm not that much of a jerk, so I'm just done."

"I suppose I can handle being called boring, since my excuse is just my inexperience and morals." Sam shrugged, trying not to let Sebastian see that he was a bit more offended by that than he was letting on. He knew he was probably more boring in the intimacy department, but it was only because he was inexperienced and somewhat shy about things.

Sebastian grinned. "Eh, don't worry. Maybe you'll get lucky and find someone else. There's always Hummel."

"No. No, no, no." Sam shook his head. "Why would you even suggest that? I'm sure I'll find someone eventually...just not him."

"Alrighty then." Sebastian laughed. "Don't fret, handsome. Well, I'm off then, but before I go, how about a goodbye kiss? You may be inexperienced with everything else, but you were a damn good kisser."

Before Sam could protest, Sebastian pulled him close and kissed him. Unfortunately that was when his morning really went bad.

A split second later there was the sound of a throat clearing behind them and Sam panicked, shoving Sebastian away from him as his gaze whipped towards the doorway...which Sebastian had left open.

"Oh my god- Blaine, this isn't-"

Blaine was standing in the doorway, a rather distraught look upon his face. "I'm not blind, Sam. I can clearly see what that was. Sorry to interrupt."

Sam's face was on fire as he stood, frozen on spot. Sebastian merely looked amused. As Blaine turned to walk away Sam called out for him to wait, but then Blaine was gone. "Damn it." Sam swore, glaring at Sebastian who was laughing. "And why the hell are you laughing? I suppose you think this is real funny and all."

"Oh, I do." Sebastian replied, nodding.

"Yeah, well I don't!" Sam shouted at him. "You're not the one who's been- been...fuck. I can't believe this." He sunk down onto one of the office chairs, hiding his face in his hands. All he had wanted was for Blaine to maybe like him some day, but it was not going to happen now. He just knew it.

"Aww," Sebastian cooed, a smirk on his face, "you like him, don't you? I'll let you in on a little secret, gorgeous. He's absolutely smitten with you."

Sam's face flew up, a disbelieving look upon it. "What?"

"Has been since day one, I'd bet." Sebastian continued. "Of course, after what happened with Hummel, it doesn't surprise me that he'd be a bit overly cautious when it comes to being involved with anyone."

"I don't know whether to believe you or not..." Sam mumbled. Of course he wished it was true, but at the same time...Sebastian was not always that believable.

"Well, you should." Sebastian smirked, heading for the doorway. "I have to get going, but if I were you I'd do damage control as soon as possible, gorgeous. Blaine's pretty fragile right now, no matter how hard he tries not to be, and I can only imagine this may have upset him more than he'd like." And with that he was out the door, leaving Sam alone by himself.

"Yeah, well, it's not all my fault..." Sam muttered angrily, his face red as it fell back into his hands, "_you_ kissed _me, _not the other way around, and you left the damn door open." In a way though, he was glad it was just Blaine who had walked in on them. Goodness knows what could have happened if it was a student.

* * *

><p>Blaine made it back to his office, shutting the door behind him with more force than was necessary, before he could not make it anymore. A choked sob escaped him and he rubbed the palms of his hands over his closed eyes in frustration.<p>

How could he have not seen that coming? After all, hadn't Sebastian _said_ that he was going to make sure he got with Sam first? Sure just seeing them kiss did not mean they were actually sleeping together, but this was Sebastian. Even if they had not yet, it would not take long until they did.

It should not hurt as much as it was. Blaine had promised himself he would not let himself get hurt again. Once was bad enough. He knew he was opening himself up to the probability when he gave himself permission to develop feelings for Sam, but now he was dealing with the consequences.

It was a little odd though, because hadn't Sebastian told him the other week that Sam was already in a relationship? If so...well, then they really should not be kissing in the first place. Maybe it was better for Blaine not to get involved with Sam, if the other man did things like this. Just like...

Sadness overtook Blaine as he lifted his head from his hands and looked across the room to the pictures he had hanging up on the wall. He loved the picture of him on the bus with the New Directions group. It was taken after they returned home from Nationals Blaine's junior year, after having reached the airport and were making their way back to McKinley. They were in their performance attire, because they were going to perform their stellar winning performance for parents and other family who were waiting to pick them up. Blaine was sitting on the bus, squished in between Quinn and Kurt. Everyone looked so happy in the picture. Blaine remembers being extremely happy. They had won Nationals, he was with some of his best friends, and he had the most amazing boyfriend in the world. Everything was perfect.

He had hoped things would stay that way, but, of course, they had not. Kurt had gone off to New York and Blaine had semi-patiently waited until the day he finally graduated high school as well, so he could finally leave Ohio and join Kurt there. They were happy together; they really were. Everyone had expected them to be the high school sweethearts that stayed together forever, and, honestly, Blaine had expected that too. Unfortunately life had other plans.

After what happened...Blaine just did not feel like being in New York anymore. Plus he wanted a better teaching job and was slightly homesick. So when his mother informed him about the teaching position open at Dalton...Blaine was relieved to take it. He got away from Kurt, he got away from the terrible memories he was surrounded by, and he just got away from everything to hopefully start again.

Now Blaine just did not know what to do. He was upset and hurt, and angry with himself. He needed to make it through the day so he could go home and just hide away from everyone. Not the healthiest thing to do, but for now it was what he wanted.

* * *

><p>Sam tried to find ways to talk to Blaine the rest of the school day, but it was not until after the last class ended, as he was walking down to the lobby, that he finally got a chance. He spotted the shorter man making his way towards the front doors, looking rather miserable.<p>

"Blaine!" Sam quickly caught up with him. He tentatively reached out to take a light hold of Blaine's sleeve. "Please wait."

"I'm sorry, Sam...I really should be going." Blaine bit his lip, his gaze drifting back to the front doors.

"No, please...Blaine, I just want to explain." Sam begged. "Please?'

Blaine shifted slightly, an uncomfortable look upon his face. "I don't- I've heard too many excuses before, Sam. I know how these things work. I'm not letting myself get hurt again like that. What you and Sebastian do together has nothing to do with me, so...it's fine, really. I don't care. You don't have to explain yourself to me. Though you might want to figure out what you're going to say to your boyfriend, because cheating is a terrible thing to do."

"My what?" Sam exclaimed. He was confused. He had never mentioned to Blaine that he was seeing anyone, not that there was anyone to begin with, but at the same time he had not said anything to suggest otherwise either. And he was starting to have a sneaking suspicion that he knew what happened between Kurt and Blaine. Why was Blaine worried about being hurt again though? Had Sebastian really been telling the truth when he said Blaine was interested in him? "Look, Blaine-"

"SAMMY! Sammy, Sammy, Sammy!" Sam's eyes widened when he recognized the voice that was suddenly calling out to him. Before he could turn around though, he was practically tackled from behind, long arms flinging around his waist to hug him tightly. "Hellooo, beautiful! Long time no see, and I am so gonna kiss you now because I have _missed_ you!"

"Oh my god-" Sam gaped as he old roommate planted a rather sloppy kiss on his cheek.

"Yes, I know, you've missed me too, lovely." Jackson laughed, turning his gaze towards Blaine, still keeping his arms tight around Sam's waist. "And who is this gorgeous fellow? Are you cheating on me with him, Sammy? No can do, doll," he waggled his finger at Blaine, "this one's all mine."

Sam wanted to just smack his head against the wall a few times at Jackson's terrible timing and poor choice of words. He could hardly blame his friend though, considering he had no idea what was going on. "What are you doing here?"

"Visiting you, of course!" Jackson replied before pouting at him. "Why? Didn't you miss me?"

"Of course I've missed you." Sam told him, trying to pry his arms away. "I just wasn't expecting you to randomly show up."

"Well, I did intend for my visit to be a surprise, so I win!" Jackson grinned. "I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation though. Anyone hungry? We could go out to eat; I am starving."

"You're always starving." Sam rolled his eyes. "Maybe you could wait outside for a minute...I really needed to finish this conversation-"

"No, it's alright." Blaine interrupted. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your personal time. He's obviously made time to spend with you, you should go hang out or whatever." He gave Sam a pointed look.

Sam almost gaped at Blaine. Did Blaine seriously think Jackson was his boyfriend? "It's alright, Blaine. Honestly, it'll only be a minute or two."

Blaine shook his head, giving them a weak smile. "No, Sam. Don't worry about it. Like I said, it has nothing to do with me. Go have fun, be safe, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. I have to head home. Bye. Nice meeting you." He nodded at Jackson before leaving.

"Damn it." Sam groaned, smacking himself on the forehead.

Jackson took one look at him and then laughed. "Okay, love, spill. You seem mightily stressed about something involving Mr. Gorgeous Curls."

"His name's Blaine." Sam corrected, allowing Jackson to link arms with him as they walked out of the building.

"_And_?" Jackson grinned.

Sam groaned again, his face turning rather pinkish. "Okay, okay. I like him, a lot."

"Oh, thank goodness!" His old roommate practically squealed. "I've been waiting for ages for you to finally crush on someone. I mean, you could have had me and all, but sadly I am now no longer within your reach, for I have found me a darling little thing who is absolutely perfect."

"You have?" Sam smiled, happy for his friend. "You should tell me about him."

"I will!" Jackson replied. "But not until you've told me what's going on. I mean, you don't just crush on anyone, Sammy. I know you. You like to get to know someone first and they have to be just right. Blainers must be really special."

Sam sighed, running a hand through his soft brown hair. "He is. I just...well, it's a bit of a story. Where are you staying while you're here?"

"Well, I only got in today. I was planning on finding a motel or something." Jackson shrugged. "You know I don't plan in advance." They both laughed at that. "I have enough free time that I can stay until Sunday. It's not much, I know, but you know how my schedule normally is, what with being in the studio and all."

"I know." Sam frowned. "They work you to the bone in that place. You deserve some more time off."

"It is sad, isn't?" Jackson pouted, draping himself against Sam sadly. "We'll make the most of the time we have together, okay?"

"Alright." Sam nodded. "But you're staying at my place. I have a guest room so there's no point in you staying anywhere else."

"Ah! Thank you!" Jackson grinned. "I don't think there's any need for the guest room though, if you know what I mean." He winked, laughing.

"Jackie!" Sam exclaimed, smacking Jackson's arm. "You have a boyfriend, mister!"

"Eww! I hate that nickname." Jackson pouted.

* * *

><p>Back at Sam's apartment they got settled in and Jackson started helping with dinner. To Sam it felt just like back when they were in New York together, sharing the same place and always cooking together. They both enjoyed cooking so it was never really a chore they split up.<p>

Jackson brought up the subject about Blaine again and so Sam told him everything. He told him about the day he first met Blaine, the pictures in Blaine's office, the teachers' party where he met Sebastian, going out for coffee with Blaine repetitively, meeting Kurt, Quinn, and Puck at the Lima Bean, the dinner date with Kurt, and the blackmailing with Sebastian. Then he told him about what had happened this morning.

"And apparently, for some reason, he thinks I have a boyfriend. So now he must think I'm a cheater, because he caught Sebastian kissing me in my office." Sam explained. "I was trying to explain things to him when you showed up."

"Oh god, Sammy..." Jackson face palmed. "And then I went and said the things I did!"

Sam nodded, sighing. "Yeah. So now he probably thinks you're my boyfriend, who I'm cheating on."

"So you were cheating on me!" Jackson laughed. "Just not with Blainers."

"I just...I don't know what to do." Sam groaned. "I want to tell him what was really going on, but then I'll have to tell him about the dinner I had with Kurt. I don't think I can do that just yet, and what if it just hurts him even more? I mean, neither Blaine nor Kurt are aware of the fact that I know they dated, so I could always just lie and say I had no idea either...but I don't want to lie to Blaine. I really like him, like...really, really like him. I didn't even think it was possible to like someone this much after only knowing them for such a short length of time. It's like...sometimes when we're getting coffee and just sitting and talking, I can't breathe when we're so close to one another. It makes my heart hurt. I just don't know..."

"Aww, Sammy!" Jackson cooed. "You're so cute! You're in loveee!"

"What?" Sam gaped. "No, I'm not! It's just a crush...or whatever."

"Sure, sure." His old roommate laughed. "Look, I'm not really sure how to handle the whole Kurt and Blaine situation, but for now you should definitely just try to get him to understand what was going on. You don't even have to explain why this Sebastian the crab fellow was blackmailing you. Just say it's nothing really important and that he's decided to give it up, so you two are through with it all. Maybe it would help to get Sebastian to talk to Blaine as well. After that...well, definitely tell him you and I aren't dating, because otherwise he'll probably continue believing that."

"And we don't want that." Sam laughed. "I seriously love your penchant for nicknaming people. Sebastian's not very...crab-like though. Honestly his face sort of speaks 'meerkat' to me..."

"Oh my god!" Jackson burst out laughing. "I have _got_ to see this guy. I like those little animals."

* * *

><p>Sam tried contacting Blaine over the course of the weekend, but he never got a reply. It was frustrating. How could he explain himself to Blaine if Blaine refused to communicate with him? Jackson reassured him and told him to not give up. So Sam figured if the weekend did not work then he would just try during the week.<p>

Saturday afternoon Sam got a text from Kurt. Kurt apologized for being so vacant the entire week. He wanted to know if Sam wanted to hang out. Jackson immediately told him to say no; one, because he was there, of course; and two, because it just was not a good idea, considering the situation. Sam had to agree so he replied with an apologetic no, because he had a visitor that weekend and was unavailable. Kurt made him promise to hang out later in the week. Sam gave in, despite Jackson's protests against it, because he just felt bad and could not say no.

Sadly, Sunday came way too early for Sam's liking. He was going to miss Jackson a lot. Jackson did not want to go either, but he really had no choice. He promised Sam that he would say hi to his boyfriend, Chris, for him, because, after hearing so much about the guy, Sam had approved of him for Jackson and had told him to bring Chris along next time.

"Before I go...I wanted to make sure that you try calling Blaine one more time."

"Wait, what?" Sam asked, a confused look upon his face.

"Just...see if he'll meet you or something so you can talk things out to him." Jackson explained. "Try! Do it, do it, do it!" He poked Sam in the side, cackling as Sam squirmed away.

"Alright! I will, sheesh!" Sam laughed, going to pick up the phone. He really doubted that Blaine would answer, but then again...he was using his apartment phone so Blaine would not recognize the number right away.

To his surprise, Blaine picked up by the second ring. "_Hello?_"

"Blaine? It's me, Sam."

"_Oh..._" Blaine sounded suddenly a lot less cheerful. "_Hi..._"

"Look, please don't hang up." Sam pleaded quickly. "Can we meet?"

There was a pause. Sam was practically holding his breath in wait of Blaine's reply. "_When?_" The answer was apprehensive, but Sam was just happy it seemed like Blaine would at least give him a chance.

"This evening?" Sam suggested. "I'm taking Jackson to the airport in an hour. You could come over, or we could meet somewhere."

"_I'll come over._" Blaine replied quietly.

Sam breathed a soft sigh of relief. "Thank you."

After they hung up, Sam covered his face with his hands, taking a deep breath. The horrible, upsetting feeling that had settled into his stomach since Friday felt a tad bit lighter than it had. It just did not feel right when Blaine was upset with him. It made Sam want to cry. He just did not understand. How could just one person make him feel so many different things?

"So, things are going to work out." Jackson smiled reassuringly, hugging Sam tightly.

"I really hope so." Sam replied quietly.


	5. Things only get worse

It was evening. Actually, it was later than evening. It was just plain nighttime, and Blaine still had not showed up. Sam was disappointed, to say the least, and sad because he really just wanted everything to work out.

He was just about to give up and go get ready for bed when he heard a tentative knock on the door. It almost startled him, because he was not expecting it by this point. Rushing to open the door he took a step back, surprised to see how nervous Blaine looked. "Blaine..."

Blaine walked into the apartment and Sam shut the door, turning to see Blaine had stopped to turn and face him. "I was...really unsure whether I was going to show up or not." He admitted quietly.

"I guess I could understand if you didn't..." Sam replied, "but thank you for giving me the chance to talk."

"Sam, I-" Blaine took a deep breath, "look, I...I really like you. I'm just...not in a good position right now to even try and get involved with anyone, especially not after what happened with my last relationship. I don't want to get hurt that badly again and I have issues with...feelings, I guess. When we first met I sort of...I don't know. It was the first time in a while that I felt like maybe I could give this whole 'having feelings for someone' thing a try again, you know?" Sam's breath caught at Blaine's admission, his heart racing in his chest. "I knew there was always the possibility of getting hurt again and I thought that maybe I could handle it, but...I can't. Not yet, I guess. Seeing you and Sebastian together...was really upsetting for me, especially after Sebastian told me you were already seeing someone else anyway-"

Sam laughed, shaking his head. "No. I'm not."

"What?" Blaine looked confused.

"I'm not seeing anyone. I never have." Sam admitted sheepishly.

Blaine looked unconvinced. "But the guy who was visiting-"

"That was Jackson." Sam explained. "My old roommate from back in New York. He's my best friend, honestly. And yes, he once had feelings for me, he even kissed me once, and, on occasion like you saw, he likes to just mess around and joke, but we have never dated. He has a boyfriend now, and I know Jackson, he would never cheat on anyone."

"Oh..." Blaine still looked somewhat confused though.

"Honestly, I'm just really shy when it comes to relationships." Sam admitted. "I never got the chance back in high school and once I got to New York...I was just really scared to get so close to anyone past friendship. There are so many..._feelings_ involved. It's kind of scary."

"I see." Blaine sighed. "I'm sorry for...jumping to conclusions about Jackson."

"It's alright." Sam smiled, glad that things were sort of getting worked out. "Jackson's a good guy; he thought it was pretty funny when I told him I figured you thought he was my boyfriend."

"So you've really never dated anyone at all?" Blaine asked.

"Nope." Sam shrugged. "I just...I never found anyone I felt truly comfortable enough with to actually consider being involved romantically, well...never had anyway until recently. There is someone I do feel really comfortable with..." His face reddened and he looked down in embarrassment.

Blaine was silent, watching him with big eyes. "You don't mean Sebastian, do you?"

Sam jerked his gaze up from the floor to gape at Blaine. "No! He's...just no. It's not him, it's...oh god, I just-" he wondered if the floor would swallow him up that very moment and do everyone a favor, so they would not have to deal with his awkwardness, "I'm sorry. You don't...you probably don't want anyone, right now, trying to get so close to you after everything...what with your last relationship and all...I'm sorry." He looked back down at the floor, cursing the ill feeling settling into his stomach again. This was why he did not like dealing with romantic stuff; too many feelings he did not know how to handle.

"Sam..." Blaine whispered, reaching out to gently tilt Sam's chin up to see his face properly. His eyes were slightly watery and Sam wished there was something he could do to never have to see that sad look on Blaine's face again. "I- I don't- no, I know I'm not ready yet for another relationship; I don't think I can put so much trust and feeling into one person yet, because I'm kind of terrified, but I like you. I really do. Please...give me time."

There was nothing Sam could say no to if Blaine asked. He realized right then and there just how much he was willing to give if Blaine would want something of him. It was a scary thought, but Sam just...he knew he could not say no to Blaine. "Of course." Sam nodded slightly, his skin tingling lightly from where Blaine's fingers grazed his face. "Anything."

"Thank you." Blaine dropped his hand, trying to compose himself. "You have to...you have to tell me what was going on with Sebastian though."

Sam knew this part had been coming. He just did not know what to say. How could Blaine believe him if he was not telling the whole truth? There was no other choice though, unless he brought up Kurt and Sam was not ready to do that.

"That...okay," Sam sighed, "it was kind of like blackmail."

"Blackmail." Blaine echoed in a very disbelieving tone.

Sam bit his lip, knowing this was not going to go well. "Yes. He...found out something that I'm not really ready to share just yet and because of that...he promised not to tell anyone as long as I became his sort of...make out buddy. He gave it up this morning because apparently I'm too boring. Which is insulting, but at the same time understandable considering my intimacy experience is limited to just kissing..." his face reddened at the admission. "Look, I know it's not totally believable, but it's true. What you walked in on was his little...kiss goodbye, I guess you could call it. I did not really enjoy the whole situation at all."

"You're right...it's really unbelievable." Blaine responded quietly. "Is whatever you're hiding really that worth it to have gone through all the trouble of dealing with him?"

"I was really starting to think not before he came and told me it was over." Sam admitted. "I really did not like it, Blaine. Honest."

"I just..." Blaine shook his head, looking somewhat disappointed, "I don't know, Sam. I don't feel like...like I can trust you after hearing that."

Sam's heart seemed to drop right out of his chest. "What?"

"I mean...honesty is so much better than lying, even if the truth hurts sometimes." Blaine replied quietly. "Why would you want to put yourself through something you clearly don't enjoy just to avoid something else that's probably making you feel worse? It doesn't make you seem very...trustworthy."

"Blaine...I'm sorry." Sam apologized sadly. "Please understand that I would tell you everything if I could. I just...I can't right now."

Blaine was quiet for a moment before responding. "I think I should go."

He made for the door and Sam reacted without thinking, reaching out to gently grab his arm. "Please, Blaine..." Those damn tears were building in his eyes. Why couldn't they just go away? Why did he have to be such a damn crybaby sometimes?

"I'm sorry, Sam." Blaine pulled his arm away. "This just...isn't going to happen. I'm sorry." He left the apartment, shutting the door gently behind him.

Sam stood there for a few seconds, unable to think clearly. Things had seemed to be working out well, until he tried to explain the whole Sebastian thing. Now he was sure he would never get a chance to prove to Blaine that he was different. He was different than Kurt. He would never cheat on him or treat him terribly.

"Damn it..." He sighed heavily, cursing the stupid tears he had to brush away from his face.

* * *

><p>Monday morning Sam stormed into the locker room where Sebastian's office was. He had tried to contact Blaine over and over after their conversation the night before, but Blaine had never responded. Now Sam was just really upset, frustrated, and angry with Sebastian for not being more helpful in fixing this mess.<p>

The soccer coach looked up from some paperwork as Sam stormed in, slamming the door shut behind him. "Well, isn't this a nice surprise. You miss me that much alre-"

"Shut up!" Sam interrupted angrily. "You have to help me."

"Um...what?" Sebastian tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"Help. Me." Sam yelled at him. "You helped make this mess so now you have to help me fix it. I tried explaining everything to Blaine, I really did, but he just won't believe this whole nonsense about you and me. Now...now he doesn't really trust me at all." He slumped down onto one of the office chairs, defeated. There was nothing else he could do; it was either a) tell Blaine about the dinner date with Kurt or b) hope Sebastian could talk to him and help convince him about things.

"Ah..." Sebastian grinned. "You know...you're really cute when you're angry. I'm sorry to hear things didn't go too well with Blaine. Without telling him the entire story it is a pretty unbelievable excuse."

"Fuck..." Sam groaned, dropping his head into his hands, "please, just...talk to him. _Please._ I don't want to...to give up, having not done everything I can to fix things. I- I really like Blaine, so please..." And to add to his embarrassment he literally started sobbing into the palms of his hands.

Sebastian did not really know what to do then. He did not handle crying people very well. "Oh...okay now, Sam, no crying...um," he got up, going over to sit next to Sam to put an arm around his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll talk to him. I swear. I'll help fix this, because it's pretty obvious you have some heavy feelings going on for Blaine. Please just...stop crying?"

Sam laughed through his tears, shaking his head. "I'm sorry. I can be...overly emotional sometimes."

"Here," Sebastian handed him the tissue box, "I don't know how to handle people when they cry." He laughed.

* * *

><p>There was a light tapping at the door, causing Blaine to look up. "Hey, Anderson."<p>

"Sebastian..." Blaine mumbled stonily. "Why are you here?"

"Is it chilly in here, or is it just me?" Sebastian joked, walking into Blaine's empty classroom and shutting the door behind him. "Look, I know we only have a few minutes, but I just wanted to talk to you about Sam."

Blaine sighed, dropping his pencil and sitting back in his chair. "I really don't want to discuss this right now."

"We have to." Sebastian replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "Sam was sobbing in my office this morning, practically begging me to talk to you. He really likes you Blaine, more than he even knows, I think. He likes you so much that it's tearing him up inside. I honestly wish I could experience feelings that strong, because it just...it means something. I know you're not ready for a relationship again just yet, but once you are...you should give Sam a chance. And I don't want that chance to be wasted because you don't believe him and are letting this nonsense get in the way."

Blaine looked extremely uncomfortable. "I don't- Sebastian, I just don't know what to think. I mean, I feel like I can't trust him in a way, because I feel like he didn't make the right decisions here, and...I don't know."

"He can't tell you yet, Blaine." Sebastian shrugged. "And I won't. It's not my thing to share. The only reason I found out was because I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. And yes, blackmailing him was probably not the smartest idea I've ever had, but, honestly, I was just trying to have some fun. I didn't realize how...upsetting it would be for you, and I'm sorry. I truly am, Blaine. If you have to be angry with anyone then let it be me. Don't be angry with Sam. He's a great guy, albeit a little too innocent for my tastes, and I sort of like him." He laughed. "Don't tell him that though, might weird him out a bit. Please just...talk to him, okay?"

"You're an idiot, Sebastian. You know that?" Blaine laughed weakly, sighing. A few students started arriving in the room so they had to finish up their conversation. "Alright, I'll talk to him."

"Thanks." Sebastian grinned. "I think this could be good for you, Blaine. Plus you two would be cute together." He winked, heading for the door.

Blaine laughed, blushing lightly as he shook his head and prepared for class to start.

* * *

><p>Sam honestly could not figure out how he got through the day. It was not until mid-day that he saw Sebastian again, who happily informed him that he had spoken to Blaine and that Blaine had promised to talk to him. That made Sam happier, but then he became really nervous because he was not sure what would happen once they talked.<p>

Shortly before leaving for the day Sam was moving the chairs about in his classroom, getting them back in order after the kids had moved them about for their group projects, when there was a soft knocking on the classroom door. He looked up to see Blaine standing there, looking as nervous as Sam suddenly felt.

"Hi..." Blaine spoke softly, "can I come in?"

"Of course." Sam replied, trying to smile despite the aching feeling gripping his heart. He watched as Blaine shut the door before moving across the room to stand next to him.

"Sebastian spoke to me." Blaine started.

"Blaine, I'm sorry-"

"No, don't be." Blaine interrupted. "I understand...you can't tell me everything right now. I mean, I wish you could, because maybe it would help me understand things better, but, for now, I can content myself with knowing that you have to be telling the truth about the whole blackmailing thing. Sebastian told me he was just having some fun anyway. I don't approve of it, but...that is Sebastian for you."

Sam sighed, really glad that Blaine seemed to feel a lot better about the whole situation. It lifted some of the stress from his shoulders. "I wish things weren't so complicated." He laughed weakly. "Then this whole mess wouldn't have even happened. I just hope...you'll be able to trust me again at some point. I never meant to upset you, Blaine. I swear."

His eyes were watering again and his breath caught in his throat as Blaine stepped closer, reaching up to gently brush his tears away. "I think I can." Blaine whispered softly. "I want to be able to trust you, Sam. I really do."

Sam's voice had caught in his throat as well; all he could do was watch Blaine, gazing into his gorgeous eyes. There was a slight hesitance in the way they watched one another, waiting each with bated breath, until finally the distance closed between them and their lips touched. Sam was pretty sure his knees just about gave out, his hand slightly gripping the front of Blaine's shirt for support. His heart was racing, his skin tingling, from the perfect kiss they shared, but, sadly, it was over just as it came, Blaine pulling back with tears in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I-" A sob escaped his lips and he fled, leaving Sam dazed and confused in the center of the room.


	6. Where are we going

_Eep, it's been a while for this. Haha. My bad. _

_As usual (which I should put with every chapter update but don't cause I'm lazy) I don't own Glee or its peoples...though I do own Sam. :D He's my charming little OC of adorableness. _

* * *

><p>An ill feeling had settled down into his stomach ever since fleeing the classroom and leaving Sam behind. Blaine had escaped the school and headed home to his own apartment. Once there he had shut himself up in the second bedroom – having transformed it into his own little music room – and just played random melodies on his guitar, trying desperately to contain the hysterics that were threatening to burst forth.<p>

In the end it was too much. His guitar actually slid from his grasp, clattering with a hollow thud to the floor in front of the couch, as he covered his face with his hands and sobbed. It wasn't fair. Why did he still have to hurt so much? It had been five months, _more_ than five months now, since he found out Kurt was cheating on him, and he had thought that maybe he would finally be able to start moving on a little, hurt less, but he was wrong.

Kissing Sam had made him feel so...wrong, yet so right at the same time. He liked Sam, he really did, but god knew he still loved Kurt. To be kissing anyone else when he still felt so much for his ex...it just did not feel right. It really was not fair. He should be allowed to try and move on, try to love again, especially with someone who was as nice as Sam, but things just were not letting him. And then, like a coward, he had run out of the room, giving Sam no explanation as to why. Poor Sam...Blaine did not know what to do.

* * *

><p>That night Sam tried calling Blaine about a dozen times, but Blaine never answered. After finally giving up, he sent Blaine a text.<p>

_Blaine? We really need to talk. I think I understand why you ran off, but please talk to me about it. Please?_

There was no response to the text either and, after waiting about half an hour, Sam chucked his phone to the side in frustration. Well, Blaine could not ignore him forever.

* * *

><p>Blaine was not at school the next day, there was substitute teacher instead when Sam walked into Blaine's classroom mid-day to try and talk to him. Sighing, Sam left the room, sending Blaine another text begging him to just talk about things.<p>

At the end of the day Sam had so much work to do that he did not get another chance to try and contact Blaine until late in the evening. When he still could not get a hold of Blaine Sam felt his heart sink. Maybe Blaine had changed his mind. His feelings for Kurt still had to be there, after all they had been together for years, so Sam was pretty sure that was probably what caused Blaine to panic and flee after the kiss. Sam just wanted Blaine to know that that was okay, not totally surprising in the least. He was patient; he would be willing to wait for Blaine to be ready for a relationship again. He just wanted a _chance_. What if he was able to be the one to make things better for Blaine?

He was debating whether to try one last time for the night or not when his phone started ringing. He just about dropped the phone in surprise as he quickly looked down to see who was calling. His expression dropped when he saw it was only Kurt.

"Hello?"

"Sam, hey!" Kurt's cheery voice spoke to him. "So I promised I'd call you at some point this week to hang out."

"You did." Sam replied, nodding even though Kurt could not see.

Kurt laughed. "Soooo...does tomorrow evening work for you?"

"It does." Sam agreed. As much as he was feeling warier towards Kurt, he really did like spending time with him. So cutting him off completely was not the most fun idea, and Sam did have a free evening the next day. It would probably be a stress free evening...hopefully. "I could make dinner, if you'd like."

"Ooh!" Kurt exclaimed. "I would like! Can I help? AH, have you ever had vegetarian lasagna before?"

"No, I haven't." Sam admitted. "I bet it's really good though."

"It is!" Kurt laughed. "I can bring my recipe along and we can make it together, how about that?"

"Sounds lovely." Sam grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."

* * *

><p>Despite the fact that both liked having control in the kitchen, Sam and Kurt managed to make dinner fairly well together. There was a bit of a mess to clean up afterward, and Kurt just about laughed at the irony when Sam swore he would not hesitate to hang him outside the window if he got anything on his striped Vivienne Westwood cardigan.<p>

"Normally it's me threatening people with bodily harm in warning of expensive clothing destruction." Kurt grinned. "I really like this top though. The color goes well with your skin tone." He commented, tugging at the shirt sleeve playfully.

After they had cleaned up and were sitting in the living room, Kurt turned to Sam with a big smile on his face. "Alright, so...I have something to ask you."

"Oh, really?" Sam questioned, wondering if whatever it was might finally have to deal with Blaine. Honestly he was surprised Kurt had not found a way to bring up the subject in a round about way at all yet since they had met.

"Yes." Kurt nodded. "So, you know how I've been super busy helping plan my stepbrother's wedding?" At Sam's nod Kurt smiled and continued. "Well, the wedding's this Saturday and I am allowed to bring a date and all, so I was wondering if you would like to join me."

That was definitely not what Sam had expected. "Seriously?"

"Er, yes." Kurt replied, looking somewhat flustered. "I mean, you don't have to if it's not something you'd be interested in. I just- well, Quinn and Puck have been asking about you, and Finn sort of wants to meet you too. Plus I figured you could see all the work I did-"

"Kurt, I'd love to." Sam interrupted to save Kurt from having to continue backpedaling. "And not just because I want to see all the amazing work you've put into this. I'd like to meet your friends too, and Finn." The way Kurt described Finn made him seem very...interesting, like fun and lovable, yet slightly irritating on occasion. Apparently he was super tall too.

"Oh, wonderful!" Kurt sighed in relief. "I was worried it'd freak you out or something if I asked. I mean, we haven't known each other long and here I am trying to drag you to something kind of personal."

Sam smiled lightly, wondering silently to himself. Was this some sort of...dating relationship they had going on here? Well, they had gone on a date already and this probably counted as a second one, but Sam did not really know where this put them at. It was confusing to say the least. He was kind of hoping though that if they had not really talked about it officially out loud then it did not count as an actual relationship. "You'll have to help me out with names so I don't make a fool of myself."

Kurt laughed, shaking his head. "You won't, don't worry. Er, though I am the best man so I won't be able to sit with you during the ceremony."

"That's alright." Sam grinned. "As for those names...for starters, you should probably tell me what the bride's name is."

"Oh!" Kurt facepalmed. "Sorry, I can't believe I haven't mentioned it before. It's Rachel. She's a really good friend of mine from high school. She and Finn have been together pretty much since then, with a few on again off again moments."

They spoke for another hour or so before Kurt finally had to leave. As they were standing by the door and saying goodnight, Kurt leaned close and gave Sam a small kiss on the cheek, much to Sam's surprise. Smiling brightly, Kurt said goodnight once more then turned and left. Sam went to bed that night wondering if he really ought to just come clean about everything soon.

* * *

><p>Blaine avoided him for the next few days, so Friday Sam took matters into his own hands. He was used to stepping down, doing what other people wanted, but maybe it was time to take a little initiative and do what <em>he<em> wanted. He had gotten Blaine's address from Sebastian and Friday afternoon, right after leaving the school, went over to Blaine's apartment.

When Blaine opened the door after his tentative knocking, Sam was not entirely prepared for what he saw. Blaine had already changed out of his neat work attire and was wearing loose sweatpants and a tight t-shirt that fitted him exceptionally well. Sam caught himself staring, his face turning slightly pink.

"Er, hi." Sam had blanked for a second, momentarily forgetting why he was there.

Blaine bit his lip – causing Sam to inwardly groan a little; seriously, why was that tiny action so sexy? – and shifted uncomfortably. "Hey, Sam..."

Sam blinked a little, trying to get himself back into focus. "Can we talk, please? You've ignored all my texts and calls so showing up in person was the last thing I could think of."

"I'm sorry." Blaine responded quietly, stepping back from the doorway to let Sam in. "I've been terrible about this and it's not fair to you. You're right though, we really need to talk."

"Blaine, you don't need to apologize for how you reacted the other day when we...kissed." Sam told him as they went to sit on the couch. "I know I have pretty much zero relationship experience, but it doesn't mean I'm totally ignorant. I don't know all the details, but I can assume that your last relationship was really important to you and after...whatever happened you were hurt really badly, but you still have feelings for this guy. I can understand that."

Blaine sighed, running a hand through his loose curls. "You're right. You're absolutely right. I can't deny I still have feelings for my ex. We were together for several years and went through a lot together."

Sam bit his lip, wondering if it would be okay if he just reached over and took Blaine's hand in a comforting gesture. In the end he figured it was probably best for now if he did not, so he just clasped his hands in his lap and watched Blaine with a slightly sad expression. "Can I- can I ask what happened? I mean, I've sort of guessed a little, but..."

"Well," Blaine shrugged, "it was one of those things where once it's explained people say you should have seen it coming, but I guess either I was totally oblivious, or I just chose to ignore the obvious. He cheated on me."

"Oh..." So he had guessed right. Sam frowned, shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Blaine."

"It might not have been as bad if it hadn't been someone we knew though." Blaine continued quietly. "I don't know. See, a few months after I finally got to New York to start school, we were living together and a new guy moved in down the hall in our apartment building. His name's Mitch. All three of us started hanging out a lot, though Mitch and my ex saw each other more often because they shared a class together. Once he became our best friend really I didn't think much of the fact that my ex talked about him so much. It wasn't until just under a year ago that I started to maybe get the tiniest bit suspicious. I trusted my boyfriend though, you know? After all we'd been through and all we'd promised one another...I refused to believe he could do something like that to me. And then..." Blaine's voice grew quieter, "a little bit over five months ago I found out what was going on. My boyfriend was really upset about it and tried apologizing over and over; Mitch apologized too, but his apologies weren't as sincere. I just- I couldn't handle it. It was the combination of so many things, and I just...ended it. After that I moved out and then finally moved back here to take the teaching post at Dalton. I haven't talked to my ex since. I'd never...I couldn't take him back after all that, but that doesn't mean I don't still have feelings for him. It's true."

Sam did not know what to say by this point. What could he say? He could barely sympathize, having no relationship experience himself.

Blaine surprised him though by suddenly reaching over and pulling him close, resting his head upon Sam's shoulder. "I do want to be able to move on though, and I want to have another chance at possibly finding someone who I can love as much as I loved him...just, please be patient with me. I'm sorry I have to ask that, but it's all I can do."

"It's alright, Blaine, I swear." Sam replied softly, turning his head to lightly press a kiss on the top of Blaine's head. "I'd- I'd wait for you forever." His face burned at the admission, but in his heart he knew what he spoke was true.

They sat together for a while in silence until Blaine finally spoke up. "Do you have plans for tomorrow? I'd love to take you on a real proper date."

Sam smiled and was about to apply that would be wonderful, until he remembered he was going to Rachel and Finn's wedding with Kurt. "I would love that, but I do have plans tomorrow and I don't know when I'll be home, so maybe Sunday?"

"Sunday would work, definitely." Blaine replied cheerfully. "I'll pick you up at your place around...hm, would four work?"

"Yes, it would." Sam agreed, already looking forward to his first real date with Blaine and glad to know things between them were going in the right direction.


	7. Done and over with

_Here's the second to last chapter...at least that's the plan, haha. Chapter 8 should be the last one technically, but we all know how my mind works by now...I get to the next chapter and finish it and things just sort of develop on their own so I never know where I'll end up. _

* * *

><p>Saturday morning came bright and sunny, which, Sam supposed, was a good sign for the wedding. He was just getting up and heading into the kitchen to make coffee when there was a knock at his door. Skipping the kitchen, Sam went over to the door and opened it to see a smiling and happy Kurt gazing back at him.<p>

"Well, hello." Sam smiled, somewhat surprised to see Kurt so early.

"Hi! Sorry for being here so early." Kurt spoke, as if he had just read Sam's mind. "It's just, I forgot to tell you what time I wanted to get over to the church and then I realized I didn't know how long it takes for you to get ready in the morning – honestly I take like a good hour and a half on a regular day myself – so I figured I'd get here as early as possible, plus I brought some things for you and sorry I'm rambling I'm just really excited yet kind of stressed because I planned practically the entire thing and what if something goes wrong and-"

"Kurt!" Sam burst out laughing, reaching out to pull Kurt into the room and shut the door behind him. "Oh my god, breathe! We don't need you passing out, do we?"

"No." Kurt replied breathlessly, laughing a little himself.

"Everything's going to work out fine." Sam reassured him. "You're brilliant."

Kurt smiled brightly at him, lifting the bag he had brought along and pushing it against Sam's chest until Sam took it from him. "Here, I brought this for you to wear. I'm pretty good at guessing sizes so I figure it'll fit."

"What is it?" Sam asked.

"Just go get ready and put it on, silly!" Kurt laughed, shoving Sam in indication he should go do what he's told. "I'll go make coffee for you."

"Thank goodness." Sam grinned. "I hadn't had any yet."

Sam went back to his bedroom and bathroom to get ready. He normally did not take too long – styling his hair took the longest amount of time – so it was not long before he was opening the bag Kurt had shoved into his hands. Inside was a rather nice, although maybe too shiny for his tastes, purple dress shirt. There was a soft plain black tie to go with it. Sam had his own nice pair of black dress pants that finished off the entire outfit. He was impressed; the shirt did fit quite nicely. Kurt had a good eye.

When he was finished getting ready he left his room, glad to smell coffee ready for him. "So, how do I look?"

Kurt got up from the kitchen table, a huge smile on his face, and came closer to examine. "I was right, that color looks perfect on you, which is good, because it'll look great next to the dark greenish blue color I have to wear with the other guys. You look absolutely charming."

Sam's face reddened at the compliment. Sometimes he found it rather difficult to dislike Kurt, knowing what he's done to Blaine and all, because Kurt was just so nice. "Thank you, Kurt. I can't wait to see you in your outfit. You're going to look stunning."

"You say such nice things." Kurt laughed, smiling brightly as he put his arms around Sam's waist. "I'm glad you're my date." He was watching Sam carefully, and Sam was pretty sure he knew what was coming next but before his mind had time to fully process it Kurt's lips were lightly pressing against his own.

Without even thinking, Sam froze, pulling his face away from Kurt's in a panic. Kurt was biting his lip, giving him a worried look. "I'm sorry, Sam. Was that...should I have not done that?"

"Kurt..." Sam did not know what to say. If the timing was not so terrible then he might have just chosen that moment to come clean to Kurt about everything, but if he did so now then it might ruin Kurt's whole day. Of course, Sam was still not sure what Kurt's angle was here. Did Kurt really like him, or was this all just some thing to find a connection to Blaine? Kurt had never mentioned Blaine once yet since they hung out, at least not by name, so Sam was kind of really confused. What if Kurt really did like him? "Kurt, I've never had a boyfriend before. I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I'm sorry..."

If he was hoping that would maybe settle things for now he was wrong. Kurt just smiled at him and moved closer, backing Sam up against the wall as he placed his hands on Sam's chest. "Then let me teach you..." he started, before pressing his lips against Sam's again. This time Sam had no where to really escape, being backed against the wall, and no other real excuse besides the big, secret one involving Blaine to use as a reason why he should not be kissing Kurt, so Sam just gave in, figuring at least it wasn't a bad kiss in any means. Way better than Sebastian's, anyway.

When Kurt finally pulls away so they can take a breather, he grins and carefully readjusts Sam's tie. "I'm thinking if we keep that up your clothes will be in no condition to go to a wedding."

Sam laughed, his face rather red at the thought. "We don't want that."

"Maybe later." Kurt winked, backing away and taking Sam's hand to lead him into the kitchen. "Here, I finished the coffee for you."

Sam's mind was still stuck on the 'maybe later' promise Kurt's wink gave him. So they were what? Technically boyfriends now? This was not the way things were supposed to be going, and what if Kurt was planning on something happening tonight after the wedding? Oh goodness, what had Sam gotten his self into now?

* * *

><p>The phone was ringing. Blaine did not feel like getting up to answer it. He just rolled over in bed, finding a new comfy spot to fall back asleep on. Unfortunately the phone continued to ring and eventually he could ignore it no longer.<p>

He reached an arm over to his nightstand and grabbed his phone. "'ullo?"

"_Hello to you too, Blaine Warbler_."

"Rachel?"

"_The one and only_." Rachel's chipper voice replied to him. "_So, I'm going to assume by your lack of RSVP letter you either a, forgot to send one, or b, forgot altogether that I was getting married, in which case I cannot forgive you, because how could you forget I, Rachel Berry, soon to be Rachel Berry Hudson, is getting married this very day in only a few short hours?_"

"Rachel..." Blaine sighed, "I didn't forget you're getting married. I just can't knowing he's going to be there."

"_Oh._" Rachel's voice grew quiet. "_Right. I'm sorry, Blaine. Well, maybe you could show up to the reception at least and just try to avoid him?_"

"I don't think-"

"_Mitch isn't going to be there, Blaine_." Blaine flinched upon hearing Mitch's name. He hated Mitch, hated everything about him now, and hearing about him only made Blaine feel worse. "_In fact, Kurt's bringing someone else. I haven't met the guy yet myself, but apparently he's really nice_."

"You're not making me feel any better, Mrs. Berry Hudson." Blaine commented quietly. "In fact, it's not making me want to show up at all."

Rachel giggled at the name Blaine called her. "_Future Mrs. Berry Hudson! We're not married yet!_" Blaine heard her sigh then over the line. "_Alright, I'm not going to pressure you to show up, but it is a shame because I was looking forward to us possibly singing a duet together. I'm sure we could've fit it in with my music performance schedule, obviously properly designed to give me optimum performance time since plenty of adoring fans will be in attendance_."

"How about we arrange some time to hang out after you and Finn return from your honeymoon?" Blaine asked her. "Then we can sing together all you want. I've missed seeing you too, you know."

"That'd be lovely, Blaine." Rachel agreed. "We'll definitely hang out then, and I promise not to bring up any mention of Kurt or...anyone else."

"Thanks, Rachel." Blaine told her thankfully. "Now go get ready for your wedding and make sure there are plenty of pictures of you in your lovely dress for me to see later."

"Will do!"

After they hung up, Blaine sighed heavily, burying his self under his blankets. He did not want to think about the fact that Kurt was now with yet another guy. It did nothing to help him feel better. Plus he had really wanted to go to Rachel and Finn's wedding, considering they were his friends too and a lot of his other old friends would be there. He would just have to find ways to connect with everyone some other way at some point.

He forced his thoughts away from the wedding and from Kurt, thinking about his wonderful Sam instead as he finally drifted off back to sleep.

* * *

><p>Sam had to admit, Kurt knew how to plan a wedding. He had fun taking in all the decorations and arrangements Kurt had used to decorate the church and then the reception area. And Kurt had been right about their attire. Their two different colors looked great together, and the shiny material made it even better.<p>

He got to meet Kurt's friends again, though of course more than just Quinn and Puck this time. All of them were very friendly and Sam even found himself pushing Artie around a little bit for a while, because they both wanted a better look at the room's outer decorations, plus Artie needed some help with the sound equipment.

It was while he was letting Artie show him out to set up the correct settings on the speakers when Artie finally asked him what his deal was with Kurt.

"What?" Sam turned his head to give Artie a slightly confused look.

"Maybe I should have said that differently." Artie told him, pushing his glasses back up his nose a bit. "Basically, we're all wondering whether you two are dating or not."

Sam stood up again a bit too quickly, bumping his head against the speaker. "Ow...I'm okay." He rubbed his head, biting his lip as he turned back to Artie. "We're...I don't really know what we are. I mean, I've never had a boyfriend before and he knows that, so...I'd rather take things slowly, you know?"

"That makes sense...I think." Artie shrugged.

Before either of them could say anything more, a tall pretty, blond haired girl pounced in from out of no where and landed in Artie's lap. "Hey, Artie and Kurt's dolphin."

Sam blinked. "Um, what?" He vaguely remembered being introduced to the blond haired girl earlier. Brittany, he was sure her name was.

"Don't ask." Artie told him. "Hey, Brittany."

"What are you two doing over here? The party's over there." she indicated to where a whole bunch of people were gathered. "Artie, I found an abandoned wheelchair down the hall...we could have races later, how about it?"

"Sure, Britt." Artie laughed. "It'd be like old times."

"Yay!" Brittany stood up, going over to grab Sam's hand. "I'm taking Kurt's dolphin for a swim, okay?"

Sam gave Artie a confused look as he was led away by Brittany. He really hoped the girl did not mean an actual swim, because that just would not work. They went on over to the group of people and Brittany, looking quite pleased with herself, led Sam straight over to Kurt.

"Kurt, I brought your dolphin back." Brittany told him. Kurt did not looked confused at all, just slightly amused. Sam was still quite confused. "He was trying to escape using Artie's speakers. Those make sound waves right? I think he was trying to ride the waves out of here."

Now Sam was really, really confused...and Kurt was just trying really hard not to laugh. "Thanks, Brittany. I'll keep a better eye on him and make sure he doesn't catch any waves."

"Awesome, Kurt." Brittany smiled brightly, skipping off to disappear in the crowd of people.

"Um...what just happened?" Sam asked Kurt as soon as she was gone.

Kurt laughed, linking his arm with Sam's. "Brittany's always been like that. I love her to pieces though. And by the way, the dolphin thing came about ages ago...she said dolphins were like 'gay sharks' and it's sort of stuck ever since."

"I see." Sam laughed. "Well, that makes more sense then...I think."

The rest of the reception went well. Sam was not much of a dancer, but Kurt literally dragged him out onto the floor. It was actually quite a bit of fun in the end. By the end of the night they were both really tired and kind of just wanted to get away from all the loud noise, plus Rachel had decided she was good for another round of singing and both of them, for however much they adored her by this point, just could not handle any more. So they said their goodbyes and made their way back to Sam's apartment.

Sam was too tired to really consider the consequences of letting Kurt stay the night. It was almost midnight and both of them were too tired to really move anymore. Sam was a bit nervous at the fact that he was getting undressed to practically nothing except for boxers in front of Kurt, but he nerves due to self consciousness were washed away when Kurt practically pulled him down to cuddle with him and whispered that he was gorgeous. Now all that was left was his nerves due to guilt. He should not be doing this. He should not be cuddling with Kurt, in bed, barely clothed, when he was supposed to be only involved with Blaine, only wanted to be involved with Blaine. This was definitely cheating, right?

The hole he was digging himself into kept getting worse and worse. Sam was not sure what he should do anymore...except maybe hope that something came up that would give him some sort of an opening out of the mess.

* * *

><p>In the end Sam's prayers were sort of answered, but it did not bring an outcome he liked.<p>

When he woke up it was around eleven. Kurt was still asleep curled up next to him. They had not done anything during the night, besides maybe a few kisses here or there. Maybe it had helped that Sam had said he did not want to rush anything, especially due to his inexperience.

Slipping out of bed quietly, Sam grabbed some clothes and left the bedroom to change. He was going into the kitchen to make coffee when the phone rang. It startled him at first, but then he quickly went to answer it, hoping it had not awoken Kurt.

"Hello?" He answered quietly.

"Sam?"

"Blaine, hi!"

"Are we playing the whispering game?" Blaine laughed.

Sam bit his lip, knowing he had no logical reason he should be whispering. Blaine might think something was up. "Yes. Well, no, but I just woke up and so I'm not fully functioning yet."

"Aw," Blaine chuckled, "sorry to have woken you up. I was thinking I may surprise you and show up a bit earlier than intended. I thought of a new fun idea for our date."

"Oh?" Sam smiled, despite the new waves of nerves hitting him. How long would he have before Blaine arrived? Would it be long enough to get rid of Kurt without making him think anything was up? "I'm curious."

"Well, be curious all you'd like, but I shall not be telling you a thing!" Blaine laughed. "Just be ready, cause at any moment I could be there!"

"Blaine-" Sam paused, thinking he had heard a noise, but when he looked towards the kitchen entrance he saw no one. "Blaine, you are a goof. I'll be ready."

"Awesome!" Blaine sounded awfully cheerful, it was making Sam's heart race. He loved how just the sound of Blaine's voice could have such an effect on him. "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye, Blaine." Sam whispered, smiling to himself as he hung up the phone.

"That was Blaine, wasn't?" A voice came from behind him.

Sam nearly dropped the phone as he spun around to see Kurt was now in the kitchen entrance.

* * *

><p>Blaine was indeed rather cheerful that morning. He had not been on a real actual date since he and Kurt broke up. This would be more than just getting coffee with Sam. It would be a lot of fun and hopefully Blaine would not feel that strange guilty feeling he got – thanks to his lingering feelings for Kurt – when he kissed Sam goodnight by the end of their date.<p>

Grabbing his jacket and car keys, Blaine almost skipped out of his apartment building as he went to get into his car and head on to Sam's.

* * *

><p>Kurt was giving him an odd look. It made Sam's insides twist funny. "It was." Sam answered quietly.<p>

"So...you two know each other then."

Now it was Sam's turn to give Kurt an odd look. "Well, I'd expect you already know that, considering you know he and I both teach at Dalton."

"Is he coming over here now?" Kurt asked quietly.

"At some point, yes." Sam replied. "Are you going to leave before he gets here?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"If you're trying to get him back it's not going to work." Sam pointed out.

"You don't know that." Kurt scoffed. "Look, Sam, it's not like I meant any harm by anything, but...well, I don't really like you. I mean, in friendship terms yes, I do, but nothing beyond that. In fact, I was honestly just trying to figure out a way to get closer to Blaine. I'm an actor too, none of this was that difficult." Kurt shrugged. "I want him back. We've been together for years and through more than you know. I can't just lose him."

"Yet you cheated on him and then mess with my feelings to try and win him back." Sam rolled his eyes. "Kind of figured. No hard feelings either, but I don't really like you either besides possibly friendship. I'm not even really attracted to you, despite your good looks."

Kurt at least looked somewhat surprised at that. Maybe he had really thought he was leading Sam on. "Well, if that's that then I won't feel bad breaking off our one day relationship." Kurt laughed. "But if you don't mind I'd like to wait here for Blaine-"

"Now about that," Sam gave Kurt an annoyed look, "I told you already, it's not going to work. And, besides that, I won't let you."

"Um, what?" Kurt gave him a rather bitchy look. "You don't really have a say in this, Sam."

"Actually I do." Sam replied stonily. "Because I am in love with your ex."

Kurt froze, his expression unreadable, as Sam just stood there glaring back at him. "You're- what?"

"You heard me." Sam repeated. "I'm in love with Blaine, and while he may not love me back just yet at least I know he does have feelings for me. Selfishly I won't let you take that away from me. I've spent my entire life letting people walk all over me because I was unwilling to say 'no', but not anymore. Blaine is special. He's one of a kind and is the first guy I've ever felt such a strong connection with. I'd have the chance of something amazing with him and I swear I will do everything I can to make sure I never hurt him like you did. You don't deserve someone like him after what you did, Kurt."

"Shut up!" Kurt snapped at him, eyes glaring daggers from across the room. "I won't allow this! I'm going to get Blaine back and there's nothing you can do about it. No one can touch what he and I have, no one." He turned and headed for the door to the apartment.

Sam took off after him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going downstairs to wait for Blaine." Kurt told him angrily.

As he tore open the apartment door and stormed down the hallway, Sam took off after him. He had to stop Kurt. Things were not heading in a very good direction and he was not sure how bad that direction was going to be by the end.

Things took a turn for the worse when they reached the elevator and the door opened. Kurt was just going to step into it when Sam yelled out, "Kurt, stop!" and that was when they both noticed the elevator was occupied...by none other than Blaine himself.

Each of them froze, Blaine staring at the two of them, and both Kurt and Sam staring at Blaine. It was not until the doors started closing again that anyone moved. Kurt used his hand to break the doors, pushing his way into the elevator. Sam was thankfully not that far behind and made it into the elevator as well. Once the doors shut and the elevator started moving again there was complete silence for a moment.

"Um..." Sam knew he should probably say something by this point, but he had no idea what. "Hi, Blaine."

Blaine gave him an odd look, meanwhile doing everything he could not to look over at Kurt. "Hi? I think you have a lot more to say to me than just 'hi', Sam. What are you two- oh." He paused, eyes almost straying over to Kurt for a brief second. "You were Kurt's date last night to Finn and Rachel's wedding. She told me he was taking someone other than...well, someone different."

"Blaine," Kurt finally spoke up, "please let me explain. Sam had no idea. I was just using him to get closer to you, which I know was not the best idea, but you won't talk to me and I needed to."

"We have nothing to talk about!" Blaine snapped back, shooting Kurt a painful look. "You should just go back to Mitch and leave me the hell alone."

"I can't, Blaine!" Kurt replied forcefully. "I love you and there's no way I can just let you go. I know I made a huge mistake, but-"

"There's no 'buts' about it, Kurt! You _cheated_ on me! After all the years, after all we've been through; you cheated on me, with one of our best friends of all people!" Blaine sounded extremely upset. Sam wanted to reach out and comfort him, but he knew he had to come clean about a thing or two his self that would not cheer Blaine up any.

The elevator had reached the lobby floor of the apartment building and all three of them moved out of it to continue their conversation. "I meant it when I said we were done, Kurt." Blaine continued. "I don't want another chance; I've moved on. I can trust Sam a whole lot more than I could ever trust you again. Maybe if he had known about you sooner then he wouldn't have gotten mixed up in all of this-"

"I did." Sam admitted quietly, knowing he had to do so now.

"What?" Blaine looked over at him in disbelief.

"I saw him in a picture in your office the day we met." Sam explained. "And then a while later I ran into Kurt, Puck, and Quinn at the Lima Bean. I can't remember when, but I just knew after a while that you two had been involved. When Kurt asked me out to dinner I wasn't sure whether he was genuinely interested or was just using me to get closer to you...I didn't know him that well at that point, so how could I know? It wasn't until just a moment ago, upstairs before running into you, that he told me what his true intentions had been. When he told me he planned on getting you back I told him it wasn't going to happen, because-"

"Shut up!" Kurt interrupted, glaring at him. "You can't say that sort of thing now."

"Why?" Blaine spoke up, ignoring Kurt as he watched Sam. "Because of us? I told you, Sam, I never planned on going back to Kurt."

"It's because I love you." Sam told him, not tearing his gaze from Blaine's. "It's not like I understand all these feelings, because you know how inexperienced I am, but I just know...I can feel it. I love you, Blaine."

Blaine had frozen once more, his eyes wide and watery as he finally took a step back from both of them. "I...I can't- why would you do this to me? Why did you have to lie to me about everything until we got to this point, Sam? This isn't something I can handle right now. I'm done. I'm done with both of you. Leave me alone and you," he pointed to Kurt with an angry look, "go back to New York and never contact me again, got it?" And with that he turned and fled the apartment building.

Sam felt like his world was collapsing around him. What had he just done? Blaine hated him; _hated_ him, and he did not know how to fix things. He could not even get the words out to make Blaine stop. He just stood and watched Blaine walk out of the building...and probably Sam's life too. It hurt more than he ever thought it could.

"Well, that did not go well." Kurt sighed angrily. "Thanks a lot, Sammy."

"Fuck off, Kurt." Sam swore at him. "Go back to New York and Mitch and leave me the hell alone too." And with that he ran out of the building as well, intent upon finding Blaine and trying to fix things.


	8. Playground kisses

_AH...so here's the end...I actually don't like it that much. Bwahahaha...but votever! It's still adorable and I wrote this just now while I'm half asleep. And that means I didn't really edit it either. So yeah...forgive me, but at least you get it!_

_I'm kind of working on finishing a lot of my fics up, because in July I plan on going back to school, which means I'm not really going to have a lot of time to write as often. Not meaning I won't anymore, I just won't be able to update as often. I don't want to leave a lot of my current stories hanging once I'm gone._

* * *

><p>Blaine had driven in any direction for about half an hour before finally pulling over to the side of the road to just breathe, resting his forehead against the steering wheel. How could Sam have done that to him? And why had Kurt thought it would be a good idea to mess with Sam with the sole intent of trying to get Blaine back? He was not entirely sure who he was more angry with: Sam for lying to him, Kurt for cheating on him then pulling this stunt to try and get him back, or himself for letting his feelings get hurt again and messed with. Maybe he should have just told Sam he was not ready to try being involved with anyone else yet.<p>

Well, he could have tried telling him that, but he knew he would be lying. He was too interested in Sam, too emotionally invested somehow, to just let the opportunity slide. Even Sam had agreed he was willing to take things slow, willing to wait for Blaine for whenever he was ready. Blaine just did not know what to do by this point.

His cell phone vibrated on the seat next to him and he turned his head to glance over. It was a text message, but from an unknown number. Curious, he reached over and opened his phone to look at the text.

_B, I'm sorry. I should never have cheated on you, especially with Mitch. I shouldn't have tried using Sam either to get back to you. I put him in an awful spot, forcing him to lie to you, and I plan on apologizing to him as well. I don't expect you to forgive me easily, so I won't beg anymore, but please try to forgive Sam. He's a great guy and would be good for you. Give him a chance; don't give up on him or what you two could have together. –K._

Blaine's eyes teared up again and he closed his phone, not bothering to respond to the text. As far as Kurt was concerned, Blaine was done with him. Sam on the other hand...well, maybe he had been a little too quick to get rid of him. Blaine knew Sam meant well generally, but the guy was obviously slightly afraid of confrontation, choosing to lie about problems instead of facing them and dealing with them head on. That was something that could be fixed though, right? They could work on that, planning to have an absolute honesty policy between them so there would be no secrets. Then again, he had had that with Kurt and look how far that got him.

Sam was different though. And Blaine was really starting to regret yelling at him. The worst part about everything was the fact that Sam had said 'I love you' before telling Blaine everything. It ruined the moment, which might have been somewhat happier otherwise. Just hearing the words had made Blaine's heart stop for a second. He knew that feeling. It was practically identical to when he used to love hearing Kurt say those very same words. Maybe he and Sam did have a chance. Maybe Blaine was being really stupid right now and needed to go find Sam to make things right.

_Give him a chance; don't give up on him..._

* * *

><p>Sam did not know where to look next. He had tried Blaine's apartment, Dalton, and a few other places he remembered Blaine liking to spend time at. No where he checked could he find him. Eventually Sam ended back at his own apartment, tired and upset and feeling just plain lost.<p>

Instead of going into his apartment building though, he parked his car and walked down the street to the playground. It was late enough there was no one else around so he sat on one of the swings and sighed.

Well, he did not want to give up, but this had to be it. Blaine was done with him and Sam would have to- no. He did not want to accept it. Blaine could tell him they were done all he wanted, but Sam refused to agree. For once in his life he was not going to do what someone else wanted; he knew he had messed up, but he was willing to fix things and prove to Blaine that he was trustworthy and that he never had intended upon hurting him.

He heard the sound of a car parking nearby and looked up. It was Blaine's car. His breath caught in his throat and he wondered what would happen next. Was Blaine going to yell at him some more? He did not want to go through that again; it hurt too much.

He lowered his head again, biting his lip nervously as he watched the ground in front of him and listened as Blaine approached. Finally there was a pair of shoes standing in front of him and a hand reached out to tilt his chin up. "Blaine..." Sam did not know what else to say. He was watching Blaine intently, wondering what was going on in his mind. "I'm sorry-"

"Shush." Blaine told him quietly, leaning down to kiss him softly.

Sam's mind raced. What did this mean? Blaine hated him surely, so why was he kissing him all of a sudden? Then Sam was angry though, because he had been so worried about Blaine...

"Where've you been?" Sam snapped, the words losing their biting edge thanks to the choked sob that escaped Sam's lips. He practically jumped up from the swing as he wrapped his arms around Blaine tightly. "I looked everywhere for you and- and...I couldn't find you. I was so worried!" He clung tightly to Blaine as he pressed his face down against Blaine's shoulder. Just being in Blaine's arms again made him feel better, made him feel whole again. He knew it then, just as when he had been yelling at Kurt: he _loved _Blaine. Love was such an intense feeling; it could hurt just as much as make one happy, but Sam wanted it. He had been so afraid of dealing with these types of feelings, knowing how much one could get hurt by them, but now he knew how it could be worth it in the end.

Blaine chuckled lightly, holding Sam just as tightly. "I didn't mean to make you worry, Sammy. I just needed to get away for a little bit so I just drove anywhere. Then Kurt texted me to apologize and he told me...he told me not to give up on you, to give you a chance, so I am. I've come back to give us a proper chance, Sam, because I really like you too and I'd be a fool to just let you go."

Sam's heart was pounding in his chest and he was glad Blaine could not currently see the tears in his eyes. "Thank god...I was so scared, Blaine. I thought I was going to lose you forever and I don't want that. I can't say 'yes' to the possibility of not having you in my life. And it was never my intention to hurt you like I did. I was an idiot, but I swear I'll never do that to you again."

"You can't." Blaine told him. "We're going to be absolutely honest with one another from now on, okay? It'll be really good for us and our relationship."

Sam lifted his head so he could smile warmly at Blaine. "I promise I'll be honest with you, Blaine, no matter what. I will never ever hurt my dolphin ever again." He laughed, knowing Blaine would understand what he meant.

"Your- oh my god." Blaine burst out laughing. "You met Brittany, didn't you? Brilliant." He smiled at Sam then pulled him close to kiss him once more. "Did you walk here?" He asked as soon as they broke apart for air.

"Yes." Sam replied a bit breathlessly. "I hadn't anticipated staying here as long as I have. If you hadn't shown up I'd have headed back by now, but I'm glad I stayed." He gave Blaine a quick kiss before smiling brightly at him. "Do you want to come stay with me for a little bit?"

Blaine grinned, reaching down to take Sam's hand in his own, linking their fingers together. "I'd love that. We could cuddle for a bit, though I have a habit of falling asleep then-"

"And then it would be fun trying to explain to any of the other teachers, who might see, why we showed up at school together." Sam interrupted, laughing at Blaine's expression.

"You're right." Blaine laughed. "Well then...guess you'll just have to keep me awake somehow."

"Oh, I'm sure I could think of some things." Sam replied, winking at him as they walked out of the playground, hand in hand.


End file.
